







COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 


















































% 






























f 










































































































































































































































































. 
































' 







































































* 



























✓ 










4 




























* 












/ - 



9 


J 


* 



I 
















♦ 












4 ' 





















CAMPING IN COLORADO 


WITH 


SUGGESTIONS 


GOLD-SEEKERS, TOURISTS AND INVALIDS 


BY 

S. ANNA GORDON 

•• 

AUTHOR OP “MUSIC OF WATERS” “MISSING GEMS 1 ’ “PEBBLES” ETO 



TIIE AUTHORS’ PUBLISHING COMPANY 


Bond Street 



X. 





Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 
THE AUTHORS’ PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 




TO 

MY HUSBAND, W. A. GOD DOM, M.D., AND CHILDREN, 
FLORA, BELL, AND WILLIE SYD, 

This Book 
is 

LOVINGLY INSCRIBED, 

BY 


S. A. G. 


































. 




















































* 


























































































INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. 


It has been the intention of the author of this volume to 
briefly portray the real features of a journey by rail over the 
great American Plains into the popular and more inviting resorts 
of the Rocky Mountains. 

It has been a careful endeavor to make it attractive with incident 
of both journey and camp; and instructive and suggestive, by 
imparting such knowledge as it was her opportunity to gain from 
experience, observation, or otherwise ; and to make it desirable, 
by noting those points of interest that might hereafter be of prac¬ 
tical importance to the reader, either as citizen, invalid, or tour¬ 
ist. 

Herein are pen sketches of what we saw along the way, some 
of which other travellers too have seen ; and it may be one pleas¬ 
ant mission of this book to serve in recalling to mind and to aid 
in memorizing the experiences of others under like circum¬ 
stances ; while to many it delineates real scenes in unseen lands. 

If, in the efforts of this work, the author has succeeded to the 
satisfaction of those w T ho may peruse its pages, her aspirations 
have been partially reached. If she has failed, their regrets can¬ 
not exceed hers. 

To the faithful reader and the just critic, then, this book is 
trustingly presented by the Author. 








. 





































* . 








































. 












* 








% 















































































* 




i 

























CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER X. 

Leaving Horae—An Event long anticipated—Scenery by 
Night—Mountain Scenery beyond—Realization of Happy 
Anticipations—All Aboard — Travelling by Night—Lost 
Opportunities — Hurry characterizes us as a Nation— 
Morning Twilight—Nearing Kansas—Late Rains—By 
Water in a Railway Car—Missouri River—Wyandotte— 
Kansas or Kaw River—Union Depot at Kansas City— 
Awaiting the Train—Kansas City—Inevitable Lackeys— 
Surrounded by Productive Country—Songs of its Waters— 
Its Motto : “Go ahead”—That of the Traveller: “Push 
on ”—Commercial Advantages—Population—Lost Gem— 
Terminating a Weary Delay—Colliding of Passengers— 
Boarding the Train under Difficulties—Companions en 
route . 


CHAPTER II. 

Through Kansas—Historic Associations of the Bleeding 
State—Its Drought—The Grasshopper Plague — Soil— 
Drainage—Timber—Coal — Magnesian Limestone —The 
Planting of Forests—Tranquillity of its Landscapes—Ele¬ 
vations usually rolling ; but more marked in Outline be¬ 
fore entering the Plains—Every Feature of Enterprise 
in the Fresh Bloom of Health—Crops—A Wheat-field 
said to contain 2600 Acres—Corn the Principal Production— 
Thousands of Bushels at almost every Station awaiting 
Shipment—Fruit-trees—Kansas Fruit in Eastern Markets 




8 


CONTENTS. 


PAGK 

—From Poverty and Distress to Wealth and Prosperity- 
Enterprise of the People—The Representative School-house 

_Over 4000 Free-school Buildings—Shallow Soil above the 

Limestone a Source of Drought—Government Land—The 
Kansas Pacific Road lays along the Kansas River—It takes 
in the Capital of the State and the Oldest Cities—New 
Towns springing up along the Road—Lawrence—Topeka 
—St. Mary’s College—Ogden—Growth of Kansas. 


CHAPTER III. 

Taking Leave of a Rich Farming Country—Refreshing 
Sleep—First View of the American Land Sea—Its Ap¬ 
pearance—Its Extent and Monotony—Its Fauna—Bison— 
Antelopes—Prairie-dogs — Rabbits — Badgers — Coyotes— 
Reptiles—Birds of Prey. 37 


CHAPTER IV. 

Cacti—Mexican Silver-wliite Prickly Poppy—Sage-brush— 
Grapes—How Meadows of Native Grass may'be ob¬ 
tained—Inducements for Stock-raisers—Flocks and Herds 
—Herders — Stampedes — Moving Clouds of Life that 
shadow the Plains—How Herds are provided with Water 
—Appearance of Water that has stood for a Long Time— 
Problem of utilizing the Plains—Experiments—Wells: 
too expensive for Irrigating Purposes—Artificial Basins— 
One More Suggestion—Rain-belt extending over the 
Plains—Causes of this Meteorological Change—The Wait¬ 
ing Army ready to respond to Marching Orders—Dug- 
outs—Natural Aversion to Premature Burials—Settlements 
upon the Plains—Trains stop for Meals at Regular Hours 
—The Plains once an Open Sea or Ocean—Evidences of 
this Fact—Haze—It marks Electrical Conditions—Mirage 
—Change of Air from the Valley to the Mountain. 


43 





CONTENTS. 


9 


CHAPTER Y. 

PAGE 

Serving Dinner—Passengers intent upon Discovery—First 
View of the Mountains—Pike’s Peak—A Veil of Mist— 
Other Peaks greet the Expectant Gaze—Nearing Den¬ 
ver, the Bride of the Plains—Its Appearance in the Dis¬ 
tance—It is built upon the Plains—Wealth awaiting this 
Coming Queen of an Unpeopled Kingdom—Rest and Rec¬ 
reation ; Health and Pleasure—Denver, the Great Rail¬ 
way Centre west of the Plains—Its Schools—Churches— 
Holly Water — Irrigating Channels — Fountains — Gas— 
Street-cars—Boulevards —Natural Drives— Shade-trees — 
Hotels. 54 


CHAPTER VI. 

Native Jewelry—Museums—Amusements—Smelting-works 
—No Picture without its Shades—Character of Schools 
foretells the Character of Future Statesmen—Cemeteries— 
Tourists and Invalids—Pioneer Advances—Pioneer’s Mis¬ 
sion—Fortune does not always favor the Brave—The First 
Habitation erected in Colorado was within the Limits of 
Denver—It s till serves as a Model for the Pioneer of 
the Mountains—Scenery—Winds. GO 

CHAPTER VII. 

Climate of Colorado—Idealized—Dealing with Facts—Resort 
for Invalids—Who are benefited—Consumptives—Asth¬ 
matics—The Stage of Disease in which an Invalid should 
be taken there—The Stage of Disease when Death is 
hastened by the Change—Consumption may be cured, 
or Life perpetuated many Years—Altitude—Its Effect 
upon Invalids—Effects of Climate upon Asthmatics—Its 
Cause, and its Cure—Longevity—Rejuvenating Influences 
of Climate—Stimulating Effects of Climate—Its Effects 
upon Chronic Diseases—Agents essential in producing 




10 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Climatic Change—How far determined by Air—How far 
determined by Water—How far determined by Food— 
Hygienic Hints—The Number of Invalids who resort 
there increasing—The same is true of Tourists. 67 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Leaving Denver—Preparations necessary—All our Jewelry 
and finer Dress Goods to be left—Conveyance—A Diffi¬ 
cult Question practically solved—Effects of Attenuated 
Atmosphere upon Vision—The Eye is educated—Yet it 
may be, and often is, deceived—Our Way lay along the 
Foot-hills—Night still finds us out upon the Plains— 

We go into Camp for the First Time—Our Camping- 
ground—Boulder City—Reception—The City rests upon 
the Plains—Its Population—Brief Description of the City- 
State University—How it was secured to that Place—Sur¬ 
rounding Country—Watered by Irrigation—Crops supe¬ 
rior in Quality—Produce all sold by Weight—No Dew- 
Coal— Leaving Boulder — Sugar-loaf Mountain — Table 
Mountain—Long Mountain—Long’s Peak—Hog Back— 
Farming Country. 81 


CHAPTER IX. 

Nearing Night—St. Vrain Canon—St. Vrain River—The 
Bridge Three Miles below—Dangers in crossing threaten 
ing—Should we take our Chances ?—But little Time to 
decide—Railroad Ties being floated from the Timber Re¬ 
gions above—Evidence of Recent Fordings—A Ranchman 
demonstrates the Possibility of crossing—We risk our 
Lives in the Undertaking — Brave Mountaineers—Their 
Noble Conduct—Consequent Suffering—Entering the Gates 
of God’s Beautiful Temples—Contemplation—Grandeur of 
the Scenery. 87 





CONTENTS. 


11 


CHAPTER X. 

PAGE 

Going 1 into Camp on tlie Evening of the Second Day out from 
Denver—We pitch our Tents upon the Banks of the St. 
Vrain River—Precipitous Bank upon the Qpposite Shore 
—Fairy Land—Sweet Incantations of Nature—Unexpected 
Calamity—Our Little Boy narrowly escapes Death—The 
Alarm—Consciousness restored—Eventful Night—Distress 
outside the Camp—A Child supposed to he lying at the 
Point of Death—Calls for Professional Help—Unable to 
respond—The Tedious Hours of Night slowly wear away 
—The Morning finds our Child better—We make a Hur¬ 
ried Start—Professional Aid rendered the Sick Child—We 
dine at the Toll-gate—Elk Park—Ranches—Enterprises 
that engage the Mountaineer—Cottages—Built for the Ac¬ 
commodation of Tourists—Can be secured with or without 
Board—Unique Groups, or Miniature Towns—The Advan¬ 
tages they afford—Portable Mills. 92 


CHAPTER XI. 

Rattlesnakes the Great Dread of all Campers—Entering 
Muggin’s Gulch—Native Plants—Many of the Plants, 
Trees, and Shrubs are found native of the New England, 
Middle, and Western States—Latitude versus Altitude— 

The Number and Variety of Plants and Shrubs become less 
as either the Altitude or Latitude increases—Pine Belt— 
Over Fifty Varieties of Pine Trees—Timber below the, Pine 
Belt—Flowers in the Regions of Perpetual Snow—People sit 
upon Snow-banks to gather them—Beautiful Nooks—Col¬ 
umns of Gray Sandstone—Their Origin—Natural Masonry 
—A Legacy to Science—Continuous Changes, through Ero¬ 
sion—We ride in the Shade of the Mountains at Mid-day— 
Photograph Stones—Losing Sight of the Sandstones— 
Night comes on—We miss the Sunset View at the En¬ 
trance of the Park, and Pitch our Tents for the Night... 98 



12 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 

Leaving tlie Gulcli—“ Walking-sticks” d la mode —On Foot 
—Campers returning—Caricatures—Snowy Range—Moun¬ 
tain Jim’s Cabin—Mountain Jim—His Tragic Death—The 
Cabin serves as a Monument to his Memory—Entering the 
Park— Tableau vivant —Nature's Repast—Lakes—Floating 
Fortunes—Speckled Trout—Earl of Dunraven—Hotel— 
How Long's Peak is reached—The Extent and Capacity of 
the Park—Description of the Park—Theories as to the 
Origin of Parks—Light on the Subject. 105 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Making the Summit—We accompany the Reader there on 
an Imaginaay Expedition—Every Season represented—Dis¬ 
tance—An Unnatural Effort to breathe—Hunger—Attenu¬ 
ated Air—Its Effects upon Persons afflicted with Nervous 
or Pulmonary Diseases—Electrical Storms—Shocks—Ner- 
ous Fever—Natural Electrometers—First Glimpse of Day 
—A New Elysium—That Life is measured by Heart-beat¬ 
ings, a Demonstrated Fact—Momentary Delights—Five 
States and Territories contribute to the View—Poetry of 
Art—Scenograpliy, Meteorological—Land Scenery—Lake- 
lets bespangle the View—Threads of Silver—Above the 
Clouds—Ruins of Mountains—Mountain Slopes in Mosaic 
—The Morning in Purple Robes—Unfinished Picture— 
Disappointments, Incidental—Storms—Seen from a Pictur¬ 
esque Stand-point—Sunset reverses the Shadows—The 
Storm-king—Above all that makes Earth Home—The Ob¬ 
ject of One’s Pilgrimage to this Summit—An Adorning 
for the Palace of Memory—Time to leave—The Reign of 
Silence—Self lost in Sight. 113 




CONTENTS. 


13 


CHAPTER XIV. 

TA(JB 

The Transformation of a Planet—Twilight of an Era—The 
Destiny of Worlds known only to their Creator—One of 
God’s Great Days’ Work done—A Link in the Chain of the 
Eternal Progression of Matter has been forged—The Even¬ 
ing Fires lighted—The Telescope of the Sun directed to its 
Planet-child—Heavenly Bodies marching to their Posts of 
Duty—Electrical Currents disturbed—The Axis of the Uni¬ 
verse is- changing—Throes which give Birth to a New 
Era—Electric Wires stretched between and uniting all 
Worlds—Has Thought its more Subtle Agent, by which it is 
transmitted ?—Dawn of the New'Morning—All has changed 
—Races have accomplished their Mission—They have been 
swept away—New Edens and New Pairs—Creation wears 
its Crown Jewel—The Footsteps of Man seen in the Pale 
Light of the New Dawn—The Hour of Revolution past— 

The Stars sing a New Song—Nothing lost in Change; 
Nothing gained but Change. 122 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Great Divide—Why so called—Its General Course—Its 
Extent—The Coronet of the Continent—Its Productions— 

A Comparison—Average Altitude—Aggregate Length in 
Colorodo—Sawr-mills along the Timber Line—Utilizing the 
Forests—The Demands upon their Resources—Mineral— 

Soil Rich in Mineral Constituents—Grain-raising not rec¬ 
ommended in the Mountains—Dairying—The Mountains 
a Source of Wealth to the Low lands. 129 


CHAPTER XVI. 

Cascade Park—Its Location—Surface—Features—Surround¬ 
ings — Roaring River — Cascade — Echo Grove — Water 
Nymphs in Crystal Chambers—Fall River—Nature’s Min¬ 
strelsy—Restoring Cordials—Twin Lakelets—Mountain 




14 


CONTENTS ; 


PAGE 

Jim’s Rock—Deserted Habitation—Recent Claims—The 
Park still without a Human Tenant—New Claims and Sur¬ 
veys—Hunter’s Ambuscades—Practised Chasseurs —We 
dine in this Delightful Solitude—We there spend a Day 
—Visit to the Cascade—We pluck Wild Flowers in Echo 
Grove—And drink Water transformed from Rainbows— 
Sunshine to a Grateful Memory—We make our Way camp- 
ward—Night comes on—The Moon arises in Solemn Gran¬ 
deur—Scenery by Moonlight—Fall River Canon. 136 


CHAPTER XVII. 

Our Camp-ground—Song current of the Big Thompson— 
Hemmed in by Mountains—Cottages in the Foreground— 
Camps and Campers—Man’s Necessities compared with his 
Desires—How Time was spent in Camp—Piscatorial Pleas¬ 
ures—Buffalo Gnats—They follow in the Wake of our 
Retreating Footsteps—Description of these Insects—Effects 
of their Poisonous Bites—Sports of the Chase—A Favorite 
Amusement with the Gentlemen—Scenes in Real Life—A 
Serious Warning to Expectant Nimrods. 141 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

Social Customs—External Appearances deceiving—Brother 
shakes Hands with Brother—Residents—Manner of Trav¬ 
elling—A Party from the “ Heart of the Mountains”—“ Hale 
and hearty”—The Traveller observes much in Little Time 
—Persons in search of Rest—The Adventurer—The Ex¬ 
plorer—The Poet—The Minstrel—The Artist—The Chem¬ 
ist—The Geologist—The Divine—The Statesman—History 
in Nature—Worth a Voyage around the World—What 
might have been—Hieroglyphs. 149 





CONTENTS. 


15 


CHAPTER XIX. 

PAGE 

Evening—Camp-fires—Light and Warmth—Social Pastimes 
the Event of the Hour—The Heavens viewed through the 
Light Column of Dry Air—Blistering Sun-rays at Mid-day 
and Frosts at Night—Provisions necessary to meet the 
Two Extremes—Camp-supplies—They may he obtained 
west of the Plains—It is cheaper than to transport them 
there—California Fruits—Fresh Vegetables from Native 
Gardens—Campers’ Outfit—Luxuries of Camp-life—Rents 
—Meats and Fruits may be preserved a Long Time in that 
Atmosphere—Pastry soon becomes dry and unfit for Use 
—Costumes—Hints given from Personal Experience—Ro¬ 
mance illustrated in Real Life—Camp-life. 154 


CHAPTER XX. 

The Mountain Tramp—A Prominent Feature of our Camp¬ 
ground — Ground-squirrels — A Colony — Subterranean 
Town—Communication with the World above—Interview¬ 
ing the Town—The Result—Pastimes of these Rodents— 
Easily domesticated—They served us as Scavengers—We 
were obliged to defend ourselves against them—They 
burglarize our Tents—Our Juveniles trap them—Other 
Nocturnal Guests—Canine Burglars—Our Supplies begin 
to disappear—The Gentlemen assume the Role of Detec¬ 
tives—They make a Discovery—Stolen Articles identified— 
Offenders put under Surveillance—They prove their own 
Guilt—Culprits go unpunished—Their Instinct admired— 

It is so near to Human Reason—Our Loss weighed in a 
Balance with our Necessities—Wild Animals—The Success 
of the Chase still serves to reimburse the Treasures of the 
Settlers. 158 




16 


CONTENTS : 


CHAPTER XXI. 

PAGE 

Cloudscapes of t-lie Mountains—The Divining Prophet—Chro¬ 
matic Rays—Cloud-land, and Real Land among the Clouds 
—Height of Clouds may be approximated by the Height 
of Mountains—Instantaneous Formation of a Cloud—How 
produced—Three Conditions necessary—A Theory—From 
what are these Sources derived ?—The Range of Moun 
tains a Natural, Complicated, Exhaustles3 Battery—Nat¬ 
ural Galvanic Piles—Different Causes to produce Electric¬ 
ity—Note—Chemical Agents at Work—Oxygen and Hy¬ 
drogen Gases constantly elaborated—The Great Forces of 
Nature at Work to produce this Result—Results of Care¬ 
ful Study—The Sea beneath which we live—Nature 
places its Agents where it has Use for them—One of 
the Principal Uses of the Battery of the Rocky Mountains 
—Poetry of the Skies—The Universe a Poem of Creative 
Work—Man in Harmony with Nature—Prof. Tice’s “ Fare¬ 
well to the Mountains”—Others have sung their Rapt 
Measures in Silence to the World—Physical Conditions in¬ 
fluence Character. 163 


CHAPTER XXII. 

My Ambition to experience a Mountain Storm—Troops of 
Cloud—They begin Hostilities — Threatening Danger— 

A Sea of Cloud—It is charged with Electric Fire—Jupiter 
enthroned—Fountains of the Sky—Continuous Coruscation 
—Battle of the Elements—Conquering Battalions—Their 
Victorious March—Banner of the Battle-field—Emotions of 
that Hour—Campers suffer Loss — Selection of Camp¬ 
grounds—Rainy Season—Indian Summer—April in August 
—Clothing quickly dries—Winds in Parks changeable— 
Every Variety of Weather comes under One’s Observation 
at the Same Time—Storm and Calm—Freaks of the Climate 
—A Strange Contrast with the Stern Character of the 
Mountains—Orography of the Mountains. 175 




CONTENTS. 


17 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

PAGE 

Adieu to the Mountains—Nearly the last to take Leave- 
Rural Music—Psalms of the Mountains—Birthright, as 
handed down from our First Parents—Our Personal Effects 
packed—Disappointment—The Team non est —Volunteer 
Service in the Search for the Equines—Difficulties attending 
the same—Discovery of the Lost Animals—Taking Leave— 

On our Way— En Bivouac —Fires in the Mountains— 
Their Terrible March of Destruction, Danger, and Death, 

—Formation of Clouds from the Vapor of these Fires— 
Sunset—How these Fires originate—The Law prescribes 
Punishment. 180 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

Rest in Open Air—The Day on which we were to reach the 
Plains—we visit the Sick Child again, having spent the 
Night upon her Father’s Ranch—Convalescent—Moving 
forward—Reaching Boulder—We were pleasantly enter¬ 
tained—Back to Home Life—We pursue our Journey over 
the Plains to Denver—Boulder River—Coal-mines—On¬ 
slaught upon Colorado Grasshoppers—We capture a few 
Specimens—Lizards—Our Last Dinner in the Capacity of 
Camp-life—Bill of Fare—A Stranger calls upon us—We 
meet again the Next Day without being recognized—An¬ 
other Tourist—The Dryness of the Plains—A Dilemna— 
Arrival at Denver—Supper—Most Places of Popular Resort 
now accessible by Rail—Other Facilities for travelling.... 188 

CHAPTER XXV. 

En route —Eagerness to discover a Herd of Bison—Our Am¬ 
bition partially rewarded—Difference between a Wild and 
a Tame Buffalo—Frequent Discovery of Antelopes—Cow- 
punchers— Cow-punchers’ Saddles, cheap — Instrument 



18 


CONTENTS. 


TAGE 

used in driving Stock—Lonely Life of the Herdsmen— 
Shepherds—Shut out from the World of Men—Shepherds 
of Old—God’s Preference for One of their Number—His 
Eye still keepeth watch over the Shepherds of the 
Plains—Utes—Tragedy in Frontier Life—Government de¬ 
fends the Settlers against them—They are nqw consid¬ 
ered friendly—No Argument with them persuasive save 
that dictated by War—Snow-sheds—Plains on Fire— 
Kansas—Its Wealth of Harvest in Store—Missouri—Its 
Storehouses filled—The Hum of Industry, and the Ring 
of Prosperity—The Lever by which the Poor are raised— 
Evening—The Benediction—Night—Rest, with Little Sleep 
—Home again. 195 



CAMPING- IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTEE I. 

Leaving Home—An Event long anticipated—Scenery by Night 
—Mountain Scenery and Rest—Realization of happy Anticipa¬ 
tions—All aboard-Travelling by Night—Lost Opportunities 

—Hurry characterizes us as a Nation—Morning Twilight— 
Nearing Kansas—Late Rains—By Water in a Railway Car— 
Missouri River—Wyandotte—Kansas or Kaw River—Union 
Depot in Kansas City—Awaiting the Train—Kansas City—In¬ 
evitable Lackeys—Surrounded by a fertile Country—Language 
of its Waters—Translated into Song—Its Motto : Go Ahead— 
That of the Traveller : Push On—Commercial Advantages— 
Population—Lost Gem—Termination of a weary delay—Col¬ 
liding of Passengers—Boarding the Train under difficulties— 
Companions en route. 

Shall bid the quiet, sweet good-bye ; « 

Or say the cold farewell ? 

It was a bright beautiful evening, about the middle 
of July, in the summer of 18—, when, after a day of 
wearisome excitement, such as usually precedes the 
advent of a season trip, a small party might have been 

seen to enter a depot in the city of Id-. The long 

anticipated tour of the Rocky Mountains had ceased 
to be a subject of anticipation, expectation, and 
anxiety, and had really come to be a pleasure of pres¬ 
ent enjoyment. 



20 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


That we had encountered and overcome the objec¬ 
tionable features of the journey was evident, by our 
having started ; and, though not yet out of sight of 
home, the distance before us bore no comparative diffi¬ 
culties with those already vancpiislied. 

The evening was warm, and the semi-tropical skies 
that hung over us were radiant with the gems un¬ 
veiled by night to light the pathway of worlds 
through the infinitudes of space. In the background, 
bounded on the east by the sparkling waters of the Mis¬ 
sissippi river (adown whose current brilliantly lighted 
palaces might, at that hour, have been seen floating 
gulfward), and otherwise picturesquely environed 
by hills, nestling close to the valley, lay the city w T e 
were about to leave, in the quiet dreams of the sweet 
repose of night; wdiile before us lay, hidden by the 
dark veil of distance, a vast, varied, and, to us, unex¬ 
plored outstretch of land, bounded on the west by 
mountain scenery and rest. In the near future was 
the realization of some of our most fondly cherished 
anticipations ; fancies were already entering the vesti¬ 
bule of realities ; and we were, even then, bidding 
adieu to the poetry of the ideal, for the more sublime 
enjoyment of the real. 

We had not long here to wait; for the shrill neigh 
of the approaching iron steed soon gave swift warning 
to those outside, to clear the track, as the long train 
of passenger coaches was drawn up before the depot. 
At precisely ten o’clock p.m., we responded to the call 
“ all aboard,” and immediately found ourselves under 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


21 


way. Beautiful country lay everywhere along the 
route, dotted with thriving cities and villages, of 
which we caught only occasional glimpses through the 
window of our sleeping car, at intervals between short 
snatches of sleep. 

We were unable to form any correct estimate of 
their characteristic enterprise and wealth, from the 
partial view we were able to command of them, so 
silent and inactive they lay, in the . embrace of night, 
under the shadows half uplifted by the rising moon, 
or in the more obscure starlight. Educated as our 
American people are to the idea that everything must 
be done in a hurry, travelling has not . been made an 
exception to this general rule. W e, as a nation, work 
in a hurry ; we eat in a hurry ; we sleep in a hurry ; 
hardly losing consciousness of the impression that we 
must awaken long before nature is willing to relin¬ 
quish her claims to rest. We live in a hurry, wear 
out the machinery of life in a hurry, and die prema¬ 
turely. American travel is a good illustration of two 
evils. The first is that of going through the world in 
a hurry ; and the second is that of going through the 
world with one’s eyes shut. What can be more 
blind ? Such a practice, when avoidable, should at 
once exclude the idea of reading books of travel, and 
discourage any attempt to gain a practical knowledge 
of a country, as unworthy our time or consideration. 

Early twilight at once gave wings to sleep ; and as 
the rising sun chased away the shadows of night, and 
painted the landscape afresh with color, and the wind 


22 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


shook out here and there a spray of bloom, and the 
birds arose from their tiny nests in the joy of their 
morning songs, and the crickets began their merry 
chirp, and the bees commenced their busy hum, we 
forsook our berths, and ventured upon the platform 
of the car, where we, too, could drink in the freshness 
of the morning, enjoy the fragrance of its balms, and 
the delights of the beautifully diversified landscape, 
that lay on all sides sparkling with the liquid jewels 
which the night queen had shaken from her sandals. 

The sky overhead was clear and radiant with the 
warm tints of a July atmosphere, and sultry with its 
heat, from which the principal relief was that obtained 
by the motion of the train. We were nearing the 
Kansas boundary, and were about to bid adieu to the 
rich and fertile commonwealth of Missouri, and to the 
famous thoroughfare whose well-tried bridges had 
borne us so safely over imaginary as well as real dan¬ 
gers. Here the late rains had filled the beds of the 
streams and overflowed their embankments, flooding 
the low grounds on either side. 

About eight o’clock a.m., a steamboat ride was pro¬ 
posed by one of the passengers, with the assurance 
that there would soon be an opportunity for a free 
ride, by water, for all who were willing to embark. 
Scarcely was there time to assent to the proposition, 
before the train slackened its rate of motion, until 
motion was hardly perceptible, and we found our¬ 
selves in the midst of a temporary inland sea. The 
rails seemed to yield beneath us, and we feared that 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


23 


tlie ties had been washed away in places, rendering 
our escape from threatening disaster doubtful. At 
length the train reeled, and then halted. The steed 
panted, snorted, and was again under motion. We 
soon reached shore, having made a trip by water in a 
railway car. 

A little way beyond flowed the Missouri Hiver— 
majestic in size, but uninviting in appearance. The 
muddy waters of this stream are of a clay color, re¬ 
sembling that of the bank, on either shore, from the 
wash of which its color is principally due. Of the 
four billions of cubic feet of earth annually washed 
down the Mississippi Hiver into the Gulf of Mexico, 
thus extending the Southwest Pass into that body of 
water three hundred and forty feet per annum, judg¬ 
ing from the number of miles of embankment of the 
Missouri Hiver and its tributaries, nearly one third 
of the deposit must be conducted into the Mississippi 
Hiver through this stream. 

This water is wholly unfit for use unless filtered or 
allowed to stand until the sediment has been precip¬ 
itated. The channel of this river is constantly chang¬ 
ing, and so unreliable is it that it becomes necessary 
to examine its course where it is navigable, every year, 
before steamers commence their regular trips. We 
crossed this stream near its junction with the Kaw, or 
Kansas Hiver, just before entering Kansas City. 

Wyandotte lay just above on the west bank of the 
stream, separated from the former place by the Kan¬ 
sas Hiver. 


24 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


We readied Kansas City about nine o’clock a.m., 
where we were obliged to remain during the next two 
hours, awaiting the train. The spacious sitting-rooms 
of this palatial depot were uncomfortably filled with 
passengers likewise detained, many of whom were 
obliged to remain standing, or to construct temporary 
seats of their baggage. It required little, i f any, stretch 
of the imagination to fancy ourselves in a Chicago depot 
awaiting the advent of a passenger train east. This 
city, of a quarter of a century, reposing in the lap of 
luxuriant wealth, is endowed with almost unrivalled 
enterprise. As you enter it and leave the train you 
meet with a crowd of passengers, outside the depot, 
waiting to exchange places, for the time being, with 
you. Then comes the list of inevitable lackeys, with 
their discordant phrases and assuring style. Know¬ 
ing your own business, you listen to them or you do 
not, as the case may be. If you are bound for the 
mountains you have no relish for cosmopolitan airs, of 
whatever nature. Your only anxiety is to “ push 
on” as fast as possible. You hardly desire to stop 
long enough to acquaint yourself with the city in 
which you are temporarily detained—one of the most 
active centres of the West. 

The traveller seems, even here, in the valley of the 
Missouri River, to feel the invigoration of the west¬ 
ern winds, from the far off Rocky Mountains, as they 
are wafted over the plains, though robbed of much 
of their crispness, and otherwise modified by their 
long journey. 

The productive fields lying northward are watered 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


25 


by a stream, some of whose tributaries have their rise 
in the yet happy hunting grounds of the red man ; 
among which is the Dacotah River and others, whose 
melodies are the unwritten music accompanying the 
legends which Longfellow has so beautifully translated 
into song 

On other sides the fertile meadow lands, as richly 
laden with their burden of wealth, are watered by 
streams that sing of thriving cities and of the arts and 
industries of civilization ; streams that sing the pasto¬ 
ral songs of rural retreats, and of beautiful homes 
whose emerald lawns arc shaded by luxuriant groves 
and bordered with perpetual bloom, and whose culti¬ 
vated gardens yield their abundant harvests of fruit 
and vegetation—streams that bear upon their bosoms 
the productions and manufactures of one city to the 
markets of another. 

Here the echoes of the voice of civilization and the 
refined language of educated society, is intermingled 
with those of the untutored dialect of nature’s children 
in the blending of these waters. 

But if you are a traveller whose study is the world, 
you will ascertain, before leaving, that you are in a city 
whose motton is “ Go ahead ”—that you are in a city 
of vigorous growth ; a city that opens the doors of 
first-class hotels to the traveller, and offers him the 
convenience of street cars to any desirable point within 
its limits ; a city of rare commercial advantages, hold¬ 
ing a large share of the commercial patronage of West¬ 
ern Missouri, Kansas, Eastern Colorado, Hew Mexico, 
Texas, Nebraska, and the Indian territories ; a city 


26 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


possessed of rare advantages for transportation and for 
storage. Its seven elevators could in time handle the 
wealth of the seven hills of Rome, were it converted 
into grain. It presents an opera house capable of 
seating two thousand people. Its school buildings are 
spacious and well ventilated. Its church edifices are 
pronounced “ elegant,” and many of its private resi¬ 
dences are mansions of wealth. 

When this city, now numbering 45,000 inhabitants, 
was founded, it was supposed to be upon Kansas soil ; 
hence its name ; but it was afterwards ascertained to 
be within the limits of Missouri. While Kansas 
misses a gem from her bosom, Missouri proudly wears 
the jewel. 

Terminating a weary delay, the western bound train 
signalled its approach. Scarcely had we time to gather 
up our baggage before it came to a halt; and the pas¬ 
sengers, having taken an undue amount of intoxicat¬ 
ing American spirits, which manifests itself in hurry , 
were soon to be seen colliding with each other in their 
egress and ingress during the delay and change of 
passengers. 

Under these circumstances, with difficulty we made 
our way to the train ; where our party soon found 
themselves grouped together, near the centre of an 
easy Pullman. Close by, and destined to be our com¬ 
panions en route , were three prominent bishops of the 
Episcopal Church, another eminent divine and wife 
of the same persuasion, an author, and several other 
passengers, whom we found to be most agreeable 
travelling companions. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


27 


CHAPTER II. 

Through Kansas—Historic Associations of the “ Bleeding State” 
—Its Drouth—The Grasshopper Plague—Soil—Drainage- 
Timber—Coal—Magnesian Limestone—The planting of For¬ 
ests—Passive Landscapes—Elevations usually rolling—More 
marked in Outline before entering the Plains—Ever}’- Feature 
of enterprise in the fresh Bloom of Health—Crops—A Wheat 
Field of twenty-six hundred Acres—Corn the principal Pro¬ 
duct—Thousands of Bushels at almost every Station awaiting 
shipment—Fruit Trees—Kansas Fruits in Eastern Markets— 
From Poverty and Distress to Wealth and Prosperity—Enter¬ 
prise of the People—The representative School-house—Over 
four thousand free School Buildings—A prolific Source of 
Drouth—Government Land—The K. P. Road lays along the 
Kansas River—It takes in the Capital of the State, and the old¬ 
est Cities—New Towns along the Road—Lawrence and other 
Cities—St. Mary’s College—Growth of Kansas. 

Before us the once bleeding State— 

Thrice tried ; by war, and drouth, and plague ; 

And purged by every bitter fate, 

Of men corrupt, and human hate, 

And wrongs, refusing to be stayed— 

Freely unbars its fettered gate. 

That part of our journey lying through Kansas 
was of special interest to us. The historic associations 
of the “ bleeding State, ’ ’ during the reign of squatter 
sovereignty, was vividly recalled, and hastily reviewed. 
The more recent drouth, that consumed so much 
promised wealth and blighted so many hopes, throw¬ 
ing a dark shadow over the prospects of that young 


28 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


State, forced itself upon our memory. The grass¬ 
hopper plague, and the destruction that followed in 
its wake, threatening to depopulate that portion of 
the country, was still fresh upon our minds ; and as 
we discoursed or mused in turn, taking in the retro¬ 
spect, we were whirled precipitately on over the 
boundary line of the two States into its classic do¬ 
main. 

The soil of this State is mostly of rich loam. It 
produces heavy crops of prairie grass, where it is yet 
uncultivated and unproductive of timber. The nat¬ 
ural drainage is good (the surface being mostly undu¬ 
lating or rolling), as can be seen by tracing its river 
courses. 

Native timber grows in belts along the streams 
or in groves, as a rule ; and of this resource of wealth 
and convenience there is, in many places, a great 
scarcity. This deficiency is, however, in part being 
compensated for by the discovery of rich beds of coal, 
and by an almost exhaustless supply of magnesian 
limestone. While fuel and building material are 
being thus supplied, and forests are being planted 
and successfully grown in some portions of the State, 
there will necessarily remain a dearth of shade, and 
long distances where the wind may pursue its course 
with undisturbed sway (there being only a smooth sur¬ 
face of ground to offer it resistance), for a few years in 
the immediate future. But the hand of art, so long 
at work to remedy this deficiency, will soon remove 
the objection, wdien cultivated forests will instead con- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


29 


stitute one of the most inviting phases of Kansas 
scenery. 

The landscape in a general way impresses one with 
a quiet sense of the beautiful. In viewing it no raptur¬ 
ous exclamations find cause for utterance ; but, in 
looking over its tranquil, picturesque surface, one nat¬ 
urally becomes thoughtful or meditative. The travel¬ 
ler never finds himself indifferent to its points of 
interest, which everywhere present themselves, its 
native charms or embellishing graces. The eastern 
portion is mostly rolling prairie, belted with quiet 
streams ; but before entering the plains the rolling 
elevations assume bolder heights and more marked 
outlines. Some of these reach an eminence of from 
seventy to eighty feet, having the appearance of trun¬ 
cated cones whose sections are surrounded with rocks 
resembling natural masonry, and whose superficies are 
covered with native grass. 

The vital forces of this young State had so often 
and so recently been weakened, that we were unpre¬ 
pared to see every feature of enterprise under the 
fresh bloom of health again. Farms, so short a time 
ago left tenantless and desolate, were laden with re- 
newed harvests of wealth and promise. 

We have never seen finer crops awaiting the sickle 
of tiie husbandman than we saw standing upon the 
sofl of Kansas. We passed through one field of 
wheat, said to contain twenty-six hundred acres, and 
we saw others that approximated it in size. This crop 
was in every respect one that promised an abundant 


30 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


yield and a rich reward to the tillers of the soil. The 
wheat crop of 1878 amounted to 95,000,000 bushels. 
“ Kansas already takes rank among the first wheat¬ 
growing States in the Union while her extensive 
cultivated acreage places her also as the fourth corn 
growing State. We saw several fields, said to contain 
from one to two sections each, of the latter staple 
grain, which grew to a height of from twelve to four¬ 
teen feet, bearing well-filled ears, that hung bending 
from their parent stalks, apparently about to be severed 
from them by their own weight. 

At almost every town and station we passed we saw 
immense cribs holding thousands of bushels of corn, 
that remained over from the crop of the previous year, 
awaiting shipment. The crop of the past year 
amounted to about 89,500,000 bushels. 

Fruit trees are being grown extensively in some 
sections. The older orchards are already producing 
good yields of delicious fruits, some of which have 
found their way into the Eastern markets. 

This almost incredibly rapid rebound from poverty 
and distress to wealth and prosperity, affords ample 
evidence that the recuperative forces of that unfortu¬ 
nate State have been sufficient to meet the extreme 
emergencies into which it has been plunged. No 
better logic can be made use of to convince any doubt¬ 
ing mind of the true value of these then territorial 
lands, than the resort to arms in times of peace to 
obtain possession of them. The people there, though 
representing almost or quite every civilized nation, 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


31 


now seem united in their common interests, and work 
with energy and with undaunted courage and perse¬ 
verance. They work in harmony, grasping herculean 
enterprises with certain success. 

Their school-house is the prominent building of 
nearly every town. It is decidedly the best building, 
and the one most delightfully situated. It serves not 
only for school purposes, but as a place where tlie cit¬ 
izens may come together in unity to worship God, 
-where church edifices have not been erected. Judg¬ 
ing from external appearances, it is a clean temple of 
thought, the sarcophagus of ignorance, and a beauti¬ 
ful tribute to the enterprise of the living, active, pro¬ 
gressive spirit of the present. 

Too much credit cannot be given to the wise legis¬ 
lation of this new State in setting apart 3,000,000 
acres of public land as a fund for public schools, in 
consideration of the golden harvests of this vast 
acreage, when the future shall gather in its immortal 
fruitage. Kansas claims 5000 free school buildings. 
The amount of its revenues already reaches nearly 
$350,000, which, aggregated with the district taxes, 
reaches the sum of upwards of $1,000,000 per annum. 
It is estimated that when the lands have all been sold, 
the State will have a standing fund of $10,000,000. 
The total value of school buildings, furniture, appara¬ 
tus, and grounds is already fixed at about $5,000,000, 
and the amount per annum paid to the support of 
schools at $1,500,000 more. 

The State has three normal schools, besides which are 


32 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


five denominational colleges, belonging respectively to 
tlie Presbyterians (Highland University in Doniphan 
County), Baptists (Ottawa University, Ottawa), Con- 
gregationalists (Washburn. College, Topeka), Method¬ 
ist Episcopal (Baker University, Baldwin City). In 
addition to these are several ladies’ seminaries, and 
over a hundred and fifty private schools. 

The churches furnish a favorable record. The fol¬ 
lowing are represented by numerous organizations : 
Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, United Presby¬ 
terians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Catholics, 
Lutherans, and Universalists. The total number of 
church organizations is at present estimated at about 
one thousand. Small towns are springing up in va¬ 
rious parts of the State, attracting those in search of 
homes to their nuclei. 

Kansas is rapidly extending its railroads, the com¬ 
panies of which offer to the emigrant some of the 
choicest land in the State. Besides these desirable 
tracts of land along the principal thoroughfares of the 
West, government land may still be obtained. We 
were reliably.informed that within fifteen or twenty 
miles of the Kansas Pacific there lay tracts of govern¬ 
ment lands equally as fertile as any we had seen. 
While we could not doubt the truth of the assertion, 
it having been given by unquestionable authority, in 
view of the wealth, cultivation, and improvements 
that characterize the country along this route, it 
would seem incredible to one unacquainted with the 
characteristic features of the West. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


33 


Several thousand acres of land belonging to the 
Kansas Pacific road yet remain, unsold, some of which 
is situated in the oldest and richest counties in the 
State. The prices charged for the best tracts, situated 
where the essential public improvements have been 
made, is estimated at less than the u homesteader” 
will pay for the same advantages. 

The older cities manifest a precocious development 
while they preserve a youthful freshness. Lawrence, 
the victim of both fire and sword, is perhaps the 
most beautiful gem adorning the bosom of the State. 
It has been tried in the crucible, but its crippled en¬ 
ergies soon rebounded, and the city now stands re¬ 
built upon a more enduring basis than formerly. It 
claims a population of 12,000 inhabitants. It is lo¬ 
cated upon both shores of the Kansas Itiver, where 
it commands superior water power. It is the seat of 
the State University, and, in common with larger 
cities, has its street railways, gas, etc. 

Topeka, the capital of the State, is situated upon 
the same stream as her sister city, Lawrence. The 
Capitol building is of native or magnesian limestone, 
and in architectural design and finish does great credit 
to this young commonwealth. 

We noticed other public buildings and private resi¬ 
dences of the same material. Aside from its public 
schools this city has two institutions of learning —viz., 
a female seminary and Washburn College. The pop¬ 
ulation is estimated at 10,000 inhabitants. Located 
in Potawatamie County, in the midst of a beautiful 


34 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


farming country, is St. Mary’s College, or the Semi¬ 
nary of the Sacred Heart. As might be inferred 
from its name, it is under the auspices of the Catholic 
Church. The spacious buildings are of brick, and 
afford advantages to several hundred students. 

Warn ego, one of the principal shipping points along 
this route, located a few miles further west, is a thriv¬ 
ing centre, around which emigration is rapidly con¬ 
centrating. 

Manhattan, the seat of the State Agricultural Col¬ 
lege, is by many pronounced the most beautiful town 
in the State. It is surrounded by attractive scenery 
and the best of agricultural advantages. 

Ogden, a town still further west, is memorable 
for having been the place where the first territo¬ 
rial legislature of Kansas convened, twenty-six years 
ago. 

Fort Piley is yet a rendezvous for some of our 
"Western cavalry ; as is also Fort Wallace. The latter 
is situated near a station of the same name. 

Salina, a prominently enterprising town, and capital 
of a county bearing the same name, has a population of 
from 2000 to 2500 inhabitants. It is the headquar¬ 
ters of the Land Department of the Kansas Pacific 
Pailway. Like other Western towns, it presents the 
attraction of fine school buildings. 

Only a few of the most distinguished places through 
which one passes in the delightful journey across the 
State by way of the Kansas Pacific road have been 
mentioned, while many enterprising cities in the State 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


35 


here remain unnoticed, they not having come under 
our observation. 

The industries of Kansas are largely in agricultural 
pursuits and stock raising. 

A silk colony has been established at Williamsburg, 
in Franklin County. It has associated, with the ob¬ 
ject and pursuit of silk producing, three thousand 
acres of land. The enterprise was established on the 
Fourier plan. The farm combines, with the leading 
feature, that of dairying, raising of mulberry trees, 
horticulture, grain raising, and gardening. 

Lead and zinc mining have been attempted, but 
failed. Manufacturing is in its infancy, but promises 
to compete well with other enterprises. 

Persons who contemplate making Kansas their 
home will find it in many ways desirable to locate 
near some stream of water. By streams a rich growth 
of timber is usually attainable in the present. This 
timber is not only valuable as such, but as a shelter 
from winds, and as a means by which their dreaded 
consequences are averted. Then there is not only 
the ready convenience of water, but the conditions 
that best insure against drouth. 

In selecting soil the depth of earth above the under¬ 
lying rock should always be considered, as this con¬ 
dition greatly influences moisture, the more shallow 
depths being more liable to drouth. 

Unless one goes there for the express purpose of 
raising stock, it will pay the difference of cost to set¬ 
tle near by a railroad, where the produce of the soil 


36 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


can readily and inexpensively be brought into neigh¬ 
boring or foreign markets. 

Notwithstanding all its misfortunes, the growth of 
Kansas has been that of almost unprecedented vigor ; 
and the rapid development of its resources is more 
than promise fulfilled. 




CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


37 


CHAPTER III. 

Onward—Close of Day—Night and Sleep—Plains in the Fore¬ 
ground—To which we are approaching—First view of the great 
Land Sea—Its Extent—Its Appearance—Its Monotony—Its 
Fauna—Bison—Antelopes—Prairie Dogs—Rabbits—Badgers— 
Coyotes—Reptiles. 

Ye golden harvests, spread your feasts ; 

We dine as guests to-day. 

Upon thy bounty ; or, at least. 

Beholding such array 
Of fruits and viands, fresh and rare, 

Upon thy festive board, 

We take of all thou hast to spare, 

Before thy wealth is stored : 

For, when, in eve, the day declines, 

We leave thy ripened field, 

And sweetest juices of thy vines, 

For thirsting plains, of stinted yield. 

As tlie (Lay closed its eyes, and the shadows of 
night came creeping over the landscape, and the out¬ 
lines of vision became less distinct and less distant, 
we gradually lost sight of the beautiful and produc¬ 
tive fields around us, which were so soon to he ex¬ 
changed for the comparative monotony of the plains. 
Hight closed around us, and the poppies of rest 
brought us refreshing sleep. 

The first morning view from our window intro¬ 
duced us to the far-reaching plains—to a tract of land 


38 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


stretching westward six hundred miles, and extend¬ 
ing, from north to south, a distance of twenty-two 
hundred miles. 

The billows of this great land sea were clothed with 
sea green verdure, flecked here and there with spray 
of native bloom. This vast expanse of country, 
formerly recognized as the Great American Desert, 
is, in extent and monotony, incomparable to anything 
upon the continent. Yet it is not without its points 
of interest. Its limited fauna and flora were mostly 
new to us, and afforded a pleasant study, giving swift 
flight to the hours that might otherwise have lingered 
tediously. 

¥e watched eagerly for Bison, the native king of 
his domain, until our eyes wearied of their fruitless 
effort; when upon inquiry we learned that they had 
fled the, to them, fatal effects of civilizing influence. 
They had receded from the road to such distances as 
seldom to be seen by travellers, long before ; but the 
trails they had previously followed were well worn 
and distinctly visible in many places. 

About nine o’clock a.m. we first discovered ante¬ 
lopes ; which were, at that season, traversing the 
plains in pairs. They fled rapidly before the ap¬ 
proaching train, whenever we came in close proximity 
to them, thereby showing that they too preferred to 
remain strangers to the arts of civilization. 

The antelope Americana, or the prong-horn—in 
other words, the antelope of the plains—is yellowish 
brown on its upper portions, white on its under and 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


39 


rear parts, and black upon its nose, horns, and hoofs. 
Its eyes are bright and beautiful in expression. The 
deer scarcely surpasses it in fleetness. 

The next object that particularly attracted our at¬ 
tention was a prairie dog. These canines (?) abound 
everywhere upon the plains. "We could not under¬ 
stand why these quadrupeds should have been thus 
named. It was a question at once raised by all 
who had never seen them before. So unlike are they 
to the race of canines, that, from any point of com¬ 
parison, the appellation would seem a misnomer. 
In size they compare favorably with the common 
gray squirrel. From the tip of the nose to the root 
of the tail the distance varies, being from twelve to 
fourteen inches. The length of the tail is from two 
and a half to three and one eighth inches, and the 
distance between the eyes about one and three 
eighths inches. The color is nearly that of the fox 
or red squirrel, only more subdued. They live in 
municipalities, giving evidence, to those who have 
most carefully studied their habits, of a system of 
established regulations. When an alarm is given by 
a sentinel, or by any of their number who chance to 
discover real or seeming danger, it is taken up and 
repeated throughout the town, and the cries then 
uttered are said to be boisterous and pitiful. At the 
same time not a moment is lost in reaching their bur¬ 
rows, which most of them enter at once ; but the 
more courageous ones sometimes straighten them¬ 
selves up at full length and take in the general survey 


40 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


before entering, ofttimes remaining ontside. I have 
ventured to call these exceptions the more courageous 
ones. It is generally so considered ; but I have 
thought it possible, if not probable, that they were 
the guards, who, perhaps by appointment, protected 
the safety of their towns. 

At the approach of the train we have seen them 
rush suddenly into their subterranean homes, and 
then put their heads out to see us pass ; while the 
exceptional ones straightened themselves up and 
watched us as long as we could see them. Natural¬ 
ists who have made the most critical observations of 
them, say that when they come above ground for a 
general entertainment, they always have one of their 
number stationed in the most sightly place, where 
he remains keeping vigilant watch over the rest of 
the assembly, holding, at times, conversation with 
those who approach him ; while those in the arena of 
amusements seem to enjoy its pleasures with intense 
interest and delight. 

Their towns are said to be laid out with care and 
kept scrupulously clean. Most of their travel is upon 
underground thoroughfares, their paths being scarcely 
marked above ground. 

Their towns present to the traveller a section of 
mounds about five feet in diameter and ten inches 
high, in the centre of which is left an entrance of 
about ten inches in circumference. Their com¬ 
panionship is of a character that their intelligence 
would seem to forbid, did we not consider their want 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


41 


of power on one hand and their protection on the 
other. 

Rattlesnakes and owls occupy their domiciles with 
undisputed rights. With the former they are never 
known to contend, probably owing to the fact that 
they have no natural protection against them. The 
latter is not only a natural enemy to his snakeship, 
but is asserted to be his destroyer. Hence the ad¬ 
vantage of encouraging this strange relationship. 
Prairie dogs are said to be very affectionate in their 
regards for each other. If one is wounded, others 
rush forth from their subterranean homes at any risk 
of danger, and drag it back with them to their 
retreats of safety. Instances of this kind have so 
often been witnessed by those who have attempted to 
kill and make use of them for food, that the very 
fact of the grief that the death of one of their num¬ 
ber occasions, has become almost a guarantee for their 
protection. 

Nearly every naturalist has proposed a name for this 
quadruped, each in accordance with his own peculiar 
ideas of adaptation. The one at present adopted is 
Cynomis (dog mouse) Ludovicianus (Lewis). This 
rodent, which has been many times christened, is yet 
by some considered nameless, and still stands a fair 
chance for another opportunity of this kind. 

Rabbits abound upon the plains, and are on very 
friendly terms with the prairie dog. It is asserted by 
some observers that they are sometimes honored with 
the mayoralty of the towns of the latter. 


42 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


The badger and coyote are also natives of the same 
locality. Many species of reptiles, including several 
varieties each of both snakes and lizards, are to be 
found there, the most formidable and dreaded of 
which is the rattlesnake, Crotilidce. The most prom¬ 
inent of the family, Iquimdce , is the horned frog, 
genus Phrynosoma. It is so called from the sharp 
spines about its head. The body is covered with 
tuberculated scales, and terminated with a conical 
tail. The head is triangular in shape. The color of 
the upper surface of its body is dark gray, marked 
with black, while that of the under surface is nearly 
a silver white. Its whole length varies, being from 
four to five inches. They imbed themselves in holes 
dug by rodents, where they pass the winter in a state 
of lethargy. We afterward saw and collected other 
species of saureans, near Denver, which escaped us 
before they gave us time for classification. 

Birds that inhabit or frequent the plains are mostly 
birds of prey, including hawks, eagles, buzzards, and 
owls. They come down from the mountains, swoop 
their prey, and then return to their more congenial 
resorts. The burrowing owl is recognized as an ex¬ 
ception to this rule. 



CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


43 


CHAPTER IV. 

Flora—Cacti — Mexican silver white prickly Poppy — Sage 
Brush—Grasses—How Meadows of native Grasses may be ob¬ 
tained—Inducements to stock raising—Flocks and Herds— 
Herders—Stampedes—Moving Clouds of Life that shadow the 
Plains—How Herds are provided with Water—Appearance of 
Water that has stood for a long Time—Problem of utilizing 
the Plains—Experiments—Wells—Artificial Basins—One more 
Suggestion—Rain Belt extending over the Plains—Causes of 
this meteorological Change—The waiting Army—Dugouts— 
Natural Aversion to premature Burials—Settlements upon the 
Plains—Trains stop for Meals at regular Hours—The Plains 
once an open Sea or Ocean—Evidences of this Fact—Haze— 
Electrical Conditions—Mirages—Change of Air from the Valley 
to the Mountains. 

There’s scarce a waste ’mid desert air, 

But bloom of promise lingers there. 

Having sketched in hasty outline the most prom¬ 
inent fauna of this undeveloped region of country, 
over which man as yet exercises but little sway, I 
shall give but an unfinished sketch of its flora. 

Cacti ( Cactacea ) are everywhere to be found upon 
the plains. Of these the species vary in size and 
number in different locations, being influenced by 
both latitude and altitude. The prickly pear (Cactus 
opuntia) is one of the most common to be met with 
in the higher latitudes. Ecliino cactus is also found 
in the same districts with the former. The Melocac- 
tus (cushion round) is very common, but somewhat 


44 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


dwarfed in the more northern localities. We not 
only found it growing in large beds upon the plains, 
but found it thickly scattered among the mountains 
at an altitude of eight thousand feet. At this height, 
latitude 40° H., other species had nearly or quite 
become extinct. This family of plants are not only 
sometimes used as food, but are highly appreciated 
for their medicinal properties. Cattle often feed 
upon their succulent stems ; but from the amount 
we saw standing on that portion of the plains where 
herds were feeding (seemingly undisturbed), we 
judged that it was not selected by them as a favorite 
article of forage. Antelopes find subterfuge from 
danger, when pursued by the coyote, by occupying 
the larger beds of cacti. 

The Mexican silver white prickly poppy (Papaver- 
acea) is a native of the plains, and grows in great lux¬ 
uriance there. The flower is large and single. Its 
petals are silky in appearance, and of the purest silver 
white. The stalk is somewhat bushy, and the leaves 
are of a blue green. Callirrlia verticelli, Phlox, and 
several species of Leguminacea, were abundant all 
along the plains. Sage brush is a native of both 
plains and mountains. It is a shrub, and grows to the 
height of from two to five feet. Its color is blue 
green, and that of its bloom yellow, resembling the 
flower of tansy, except that it grows along the stalk 
of the plant. Cattle and horses feed upon it vora¬ 
ciously. 

The principal grasses are mesquite and buffalo. Tlio 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


45 


mesquite matures early, and was, at that time dead 
and sere. The buffalo grass is short, and stands very 
thick. The roots are long and sweet, and are de¬ 
voured with as much seeming relish as are the tops. 
It cures while standing, and in all stages is very 
nutritious. Cattle fatten rapidly upon it, and the 
milk of cows thus fed is far richer in nutriment than 
when provided with tame grass. We learned that 
good meadows could be obtained (after three years of 
irrigating the soil of the plains) from this grass. 

In leaving the native flora of this uncultivated tract 
of country thus partially referred to, we pass from a 
delightful field of study, regretting that we can linger 
no longer upon its confines. 

This vast acreage, neither desert or prairie, neither 
pampas or meadow, but at present a pasture where 
any man may feed as large a flock or herd as lie 
pleases, without real estate investment, interest, rent, 
or taxes, still offers its miles of territory to those who 
are willing to avail themselves of its free income. 

We saw herds of horses and cattle, and flocks of 
sheep, each of which was estimated by its hundreds 
or its thousands, where on all sides the boundary line 
of vision included no human habitation. We looked 
upon vast pastures, where herdsmen found no grateful 
shade from the summer sun, and but temporary, if 
any, shelter from the storms. Summer and winter 
find them at their post and on duty. 

At all seasons of the year the moving clouds of life 
that shadow this lonely region of country may be seen 


46 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


scattered in immense groups, roaming about in quest 
of forage. During the colder months the stock feed 
upon patches of dried grass, where the winds have 
rent the shroud of winter and exposed the earth to 
view. Should herds become snow-bound, greater 
suffering is in store than that arising alone from ex¬ 
posure to the elements, and more terrible are the re¬ 
sults when whole herds perish, pierced by cold, for 
want of food or water. During some of the more 
severe storms stampedes often occur, when the ani¬ 
mals, becoming desperate, take the same direction of 
the wind, and travel long distances (followed by the 
herdsmen) before stopping. They have been known 
to go as far as two hundred miles, when, either find¬ 
ing protection among the foot hills, or from exhaus¬ 
tion, desisting their quest of relief, they yield, to suffer 
further the inclemencies of the weather. Large 
basins are dug there, which are filled during the rainy 
seasons, and stock is thus provided with water, when 
not herded by a stream, during the dry weather. It 
was nearing the rainy season when we passed these 
artificial basins, and the water, from long standing 
upon the strongly alkaline soil, had the appearance 
and taste of lye. 

The great problem of utilizing the plains has been 
as yet but indifferently solved. For grazing pur¬ 
poses successful experiment has proven its practical 
adaptation. Actual experiment, we were informed, 
has also been made in growing cereals, the crops hav¬ 
ing been sown in November which ripened the follow- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


47 


ing June. But a succession of crops successfully 
grown would be required to prove a reliability upon 
its farming resources ; and as yet no one seems to have 
had sufficient faith to make a repetition of the first trial. 

We asked wdiy the plains could not be irrigated 
from the descending tides of the mountains ;. and 
were told that the amount of water was insufficient. 
We were informed that wells had only to be dug 
from twelve to one hundred and fifty feet deep, to 
afford an exhaustless supply of water ; but these were 
considered too expensive for irrigating purposes. It 
then occurred to us that if water could be furnished 
in basins for herds, it might be practical to increase 
the size of these basins and use them as reservoirs, to 
store the water from the mountains and also to collect 
it during the storms. Fearing this plan is not gigantic 
enough, I will make one more suggestion, by way of 
introducing one, the magnitude of which would seem 
to compare favorably with that of the emergency it is 
intended to meet, or at least to bear some proportion 
to it ; which is to cut an irrigating ditch from Lake 
Michigan, through which the waters of the lake chain 
may be conveyed to moisten this nine hundred mil¬ 
lions of acres of arid territory. Here I am met with 
the argument that the topography of the country is 
against me. 

Having no other resource at hand, I go to nature, 
that practical teacher, who tells me that, in time, her 
waste places shall be redeemed. 

The rain belt is said to be extending westward, at 


48 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


an average rate of from fifteen to twenty miles per 
annum. This being true, the time will come when 
the thirsting soil will there receive its baptismal bene¬ 
diction from the hand of nature, and this extensive 
area will thereby become a populated country, with its 
trade centres, its cities, its groves, its cultivated fields, 
its decorated lawns, and its gardens of wealth and 
beauty. 

This meteorological change has been attributed to the 
concussion of air produced by the jar of the iron rail. 
’While electricity is thus disengaged, and is also an 
active agent in producing storms, there is yet another 
cause, acting conjointly with it, to effect this result, 
viz., from breaking up the soil of large surfaces of 
land, along the settlements, gases arise, which are 
united by electricity to produce the water, or vapor, 
which constitutes the nimbus, or rain-cloud (see re¬ 
marks on mountain storms). An increasing amount 
of vapor is also due to the smoke arising from the 
fires of the advancing settlements, fuel being largely 
composed of water, which is converted into vapor 
and thus arises in clouds. The great number of trees 
that have been planted near the eastern boundary of the 
plains are another source of rain. u In Upper Egypt, 
where there were only four or five days of rain in a 
year from time immemorial, the planting of twenty 
millions of trees by Mehemet Ali has increased the 
number of days to forty-five or forty-six in the same 
period.” 

In every instance the advance of the rain belt is due 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


49 


to the influence of the advance of settlements, along 
the frontier. Thus nature takes up the work, and 
strews the pathway of the onward advancing tide of 
emigration with fresh bloom, fills the dinless air with 
fragrance, and enriches her tenantless soil with fresh 
promises of golden harvests. 

Inspired with the love of natural beauty, and will¬ 
ing to accept the sacrifices that pioneer life impera¬ 
tively commands for the reward it offers, the intelli¬ 
gent husbandman, closely followed by the skilful art¬ 
isan, pushes forward, with a characteristic enterprise 
worthy the object to be accomplished, leading, with 
brawny sunburnt hand, callous with toil, the thousands 
who swell the tide of emigration that follows in his 
wake, on to the unpeopled paradises of earth. These 
are they who stand as sentinels all along our Western 
borders, ringing back the memorable phrase, u Land 
ahead” to the waiting army, ready to respond to 
marching orders. 

Here and there, along our way across the plains, 
we saw dugouts, which, we were told, were occupied 
chiefly by herdsmen. From near the centre of these 
domiciles (by the observation of which we obtained 
our first knowledge of the burrowing habits of the 
genus homo , basements of houses excepted), wooden 
chimneys rise to the height of about two feet above the 
mud-covered roof. Otherwise they closely resemble 
an outside cellar in external appearance. 

With all our natural aversion to premature burials, 
or rather to being buried alive, we could but welcome 


50 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


tlie evidence that these sepulchral habitations pre¬ 
sented of the care thus provided for the preservation 
of what there remains of man after his demise from 
the outside world. Anything that gave evidence of 
being a home of man brought back to us the associa¬ 
tions of home life, from which we seemed to be es¬ 
tranging ourselves, in view of the lonely uninhabited 
districts through which we passed. The settlements 
along the road upon the plains, most of which had 
been established by the railroad company as stations, 
presented in many instances a thrift which we were 
unprepared to see, and in years to come, we doubt 
not, they will be looked upon with pride, as the living 
monuments by which the enterprise of those who now 
control the interests of that incorporation is repre¬ 
sented. 

At stations along the road the trains stopped for 
meals at regularly appointed hours. Passengers were 
provided with about the same bill of fare they would 
have had in Kansas City or Denver. Notwithstand¬ 
ing these available opportunities, we provided our¬ 
selves with edibles, and set our private table, pre¬ 
ferring the advantages of selecting our own bill of 
fare, and of being able to command our leisure in 
which to dispose of it. In so doing, whatever might 
chance to cause a delay of the train, our meals were on 
time. The expense of shipping provisions to these 
points naturally increases the price of fare, but the 
unusual demands of the appetite make due compen¬ 
sation to the traveller. As we study the extensive 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


51 


land surface of tlie plains, we can but entertain the 
conviction that, in the earlier history of the present 
era, there existed, instead, a vast sea or ocean. That 
its bed has been filled principally with the wash of 
debris, and disintegrated rock from the mountains, is 
evident, from its similarity of soil to that of the 
parks, and also from its gradual elevation from east 
to west. 

The supposition that this body of water was salt is 
sustained by the presence of chloride of sodium in the 
soil, and the presence of salt marshes and beds of salt; 
also salt springs, which must have their origin in salt 
mines, or underground streams or bodies of salt water. 
The presence of this saline deposit renders vegeta¬ 
tion more savory, furnishes herds with salt, and acts 
as a powerful atmospheric disinfectant. 

The atmosphere of the plains is usually full of. haze, 
often producing mirage ; and showing the air to be 
highly charged with electricity. The amount and 
effects of the latter may be approximated by the density 
of the former. The nature of the mineral composi¬ 
tion of the soil accounts, in a great measure, for this 
local phenomenon ; though it is influenced by the tran¬ 
sit of winds from the mountains to the valleys, these 
currents sometimes being highly' charged. There 
also occurs the sirocco, a feature common to Eastern 
deserts, periodic in its returns, and the natural pre¬ 
cursor of storms. These, we were informed, occur, 
on an average, about once in ten days. When these 
winds come from the south, the intensity of heat is 


52 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


greatly increased along the northern portions of the 
plains. It is said that the tendency of the winds is 
from that direction during the warmer months of 
the year, and is from a northerly course during the 
colder months, taking a change of temperature to the 
opposite extreme. The changes of these periodic 
winds, occurring simultaneously with the change of 
seasons, and partaking of the corresponding tempera¬ 
ture of the same, would indicate that both phenomena 
were dependent upon the same cause. 

In passing over the gradual ascent, as one moves 
westward, upon the plains, the first thing one notices 
that gives evidence of the change of air from the val¬ 
leys is the unusual noise produced by the motion of 
the train. The next is the loudness of one’s voice 
when the train is not in motion. In the higher alti¬ 
tudes we found the attenuated atmosphere very per¬ 
ceptibly marked, by both the distance and velocity 
with which sound travels. 

Sitting upon the brow of the hill, a few rods distant 
from our tents, we could distinctly hear conversation 
from a point two hundred rods away and several feet 
below. The change is less perceptible to the sight, 
on account of the haze of the plains ; but becomes 
greatly increased in nearing the mountains. 

To a person having over-sensitive lungs, the effect 
of light air upon respiration gradually marks the in¬ 
creasing altitude. Consumptives, in the later stages 
of that disease, suffer a sense of suffocation, which is 
often extremely painful. Such persons are recom- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


53 


mended to stop for a few days or weeks, before reach¬ 
ing Denver. The point at which most invalids make 
this delay is determined by the condition of the suf¬ 
ferer. 

The effect of the attenuated air, in the still higher 
altitudes, to one of healthy lungs, is, that while one is 
conscious of the increased rapidity of respiration, the 
air taken into the lungs is almost imperceptible to sen¬ 
sation ; or, in other words, one breathes without realiz¬ 
ing the presence of air. 

The necessity of increased respiration is evident, it 
being required to enable the lungs to receive the nec¬ 
essary amount of air in a given time. In this atmos¬ 
phere, the tendency of the lungs is to expand, until 
they reach a capacity that enables one to breathe with 
the same ease which would characterize respiration in 
his native climate. 

The difference between the atmosphere of the val¬ 
leys and that of the mountains is not only due to the 
fact that a column of air is shorter, and consequently 
lighter, in the latter than in the former location, but 
also to the fact that there is always a greater amount 
of water surface in the valleys, and hence a greater 
amount of vapor in the air, which also contributes to 
render it heavier. 


54 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTER V. 

Serving Dinner—Passengers intent upon Discovery—First view 
of the Mountains—Pike’s Peak—A Veil of Mist—Other Peaks 
greet us—Nearing Denver, the Bride of the Plains—Its Ap¬ 
pearance in the Distance—It is built upon the Plains—Wealth 
awaiting the coming Queen of a then unpeopled Kingdom— 
Rest and Recreation—Health and Pleasure—Denver the great 
Railway Centre west of the Plains—The Colossus whose Arms 
extend from Shore to Shore—It shakes Hands with the World 
—Schools of Denver—Churches—Holly Water—Irrigating 
Channels—Fountains—Gas—Street Cars—Boulevards—Natu¬ 
ral Drives—Shade Trees—Hotels. 

In fading distance, ’bove the clouds, 

Of purple tinted light, 

Come shapes in softened azure shroud, 

And crowned in purest white. 

We gaze, then ask. Are there, or not ? 

Soon after dinner, which was leisurely served from 
our lunch basket, upon a temporary table, which 
afterwards served us as a reading table, flower stand, 
and other incidentally convenient purposes, we saw 
several passengers intent upon discovery. They were 
anxiously gazing from the car windows, alternately 
turning to each other, with inquiries like the follow¬ 
ing : “ Have you seen them ?” “ Are they in 

sight ?” “ How far are we now from them 

Presently there was a general commotion in the car, 
and the passengers all seemed grouping themselves 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


55 


about the windows upon one side of it, at the same 
time taxing their capacity of vision to its fullest ex¬ 
tent ; when, presently, Pike’s Peak was announced. 
This mountain was named in honor of Lieutenant 
Pike, U. S. A., who commanded an expedition there 
in 1806. Its first appearance, to us, was like that of 
a cloud, uplifted from the horizon, and so ethereal 
was it rendered by distance, as to make but a 
doubtful impression upon the sense of sight; after 
which it gradually became more distinct in outline. 
Soon an overhanging nimbus dropped a veil of mist 
between it and us, the gossamer tissue of which was 
beautifully lighted up by the afternoon sun. As we 
neared the falling rain, we distinctly recognized the 
features of this gigantic mountain, through the trans¬ 
parency of the storm, serenely reposing under a clear 
sky. 

“ Isn’t it grand?” exclaimed a chorus of voices. 
“ It’s grand !” repeated the echo. “ GRAND !” 
from all sides came the re-echo. 

One after another, other peaks greeted our expect¬ 
ant gaze ; until, all along the west, the highest sum¬ 
mits of the longest and most sublime range of moun¬ 
tains upon the W estern Continent were distinctly visi¬ 
ble. 

We were then nearing Denver, the beautiful bride 
of the plains. The.softened outlines of distant moun¬ 
tains, which, a short time before, seemed more like a 
panoramic view of dream-land, or like the creations 
of an over-stimulated imagination, than like those of 


56 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


possible realities, were fast assuming more sturdy 
shapes. 

A distant view of Denver constituted a prospective 
picture of repose ; a picture of passive grace and 
youthful charms. We could not then feel the warm 
tlirobbings of its healthful pulse, nor trace the vigorous 
circulation of its threading veins and arteries ; nor, 
with attentive ear, listen to its free and full liearts-beat- 
ings. But there it stood ; resting upon the plains, 
yet nestling so near to the foot hills that they must 
almost sense its warmth ;* nearly surrounded by the un¬ 
tiring sentinels that have watched over its cradle from 
infancy, directing the hand that rocks it to rest or 
arouses it to action. Prophetically they stood, guard¬ 
ing the foundations upon which this beautiful city 
has been erected, during ages lost in oblivion, in ex¬ 
pectant waiting, holding the treasures to be unlocked 
at the coming of her footsteps, the fresh bloom wait¬ 
ing to be twined into wreath to adorn her brow ; the 
fields ready to supply her banqueting table ; an army 
of industrious sons and daughters of toil, waiting to 
attend her, the coming queen of a then unpeopled 
kingdom. 

We were almost upon it before we had satisfied 
ourselves with the joy of beholding it, in general out¬ 
line. Not that its beauty is unsurpassed, nor that it, 
in any sense, offered the glitter of splendor, undevel¬ 
oped as its resources still are ; but that in going for¬ 
ward to meet it, we were going backward to the endear¬ 
ing associations we had left, hundreds of miles away. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


5 ? 

At four o’clock r.M., the train came to a final halt, 
and we took a carriage in quest of some quiet hotel, 
where travellers might find the enjoyment of rest and 
comfort. We had been out forty-two hours, and 
travelled a distance of about one thousand miles. 
We had accomplished a journey that we had expected 
to find, in many ways, tedious ; but which had proven 
really delightful and pleasant. From social consider¬ 
ations and pleasures of scenery, though the latter had 
been somewhat monotonous during a portion of the 
way, we could have wished to prolong the trip in¬ 
definitely. 

We had reached the terminus of that part of our 
route which was to be taken by rail. We remained 
in Denver several days, occupying most of our time 
in acquainting ourselves with the city. There is the 
great railway centre west of the plains, the arms of 
which enfold distant mountains in their embrace ; a 
centre of a system whose gigantic proportions lie out¬ 
stretched, reaching across the continent, and whose 
feet rest upon both shores. 

The city has its Holly water-works, and its irrigat¬ 
ing channels. It presents the attraction of numerous 
fountains of the most unique design. Its streets are 
level, most of which are shaded and lighted with gas. 
They afford delightful drives, being both smooth and 
dry. Street cars run through various parts of the 
city and boulevards. To the pleasure-seeker the 
theatre throws open its doors and offers an attractive 
programme. The public schools comprise a twelve 


58 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


years’ course, and include the collegiate grade. 
These schools employ the best of talent, and are 
ranked above the average public school. The build¬ 
ings are pleasantly located, are large, and are arranged 
on the latest and most appproved plans of modern 
architecture. Besides the public schools, Denver is 
the seat of a commercial college and a collegiate in¬ 
stitute. Situated there are costly edifices and palatial 
mansions. The Central Presbyterian Church, recently 
completed, is built of native lava stone of superior 
quality. This rock is said to contain silver to the 
amount of two hundred dollars to the ton. Denver 
may be said to be a city of churches, having a large 
number, all well sustained and amicable in their re¬ 
lationships. 

Judging that city by its beautiful and costly resi¬ 
dences, one naturally concludes that Colorado (of 
which Denver is the oldest and most populous city) is 
well represented, either in the enterprise of raising 
stock, the liquor traffic, mineral bonanzas, or in the 
United States Senate. As we had good evidence of 
the first, and nothing conclusive beyond that, we in¬ 
ferred that the proprietors of these desirable homes 
were all grangers. We had not visited the mining 
districts, or probably we should have decided upon 
something even more suggestive. 

The hotels cater to the tastes of the most fastidious 
epicurean ; and the parvenu , the most difficult of all 
to please, acknowledges himself satisfied. The Went¬ 
worth House, a hotel made up of eight or more cot- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


59 


tages, with their adjacent lawns, is particularly de¬ 
sirable for invalids, who there have the advantages of 
grounds as well as rooms. This hotel is soon to be 
enlarged by a three-story brick building. The 
American and Grand Central gild the comfort and 
cheer- which they extend to their guests, with an eclat 
that, undeceivingly, attracts the best class of patron¬ 
age, while the Alvord offers its fair competition. 



60 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTEK VI. 

Native Jewellery—Museums—Smelting Works —No Picture with¬ 
out its Shades—Character of Schools foretell the Character of 
future Statesmen—Cemeteries—Tourists and Invalids—Pio¬ 
neer advance—Mission of the Pioneer—Fortune not always 
for the Brave—The first Dwelling erected in Colorado—On 
the Site where Denver now stands—It still serves as a Model 
for the Pioneer of the Mountains—Scenery—Mining assuming 
a firm Basis—Winds—Pilgrims’ Rest. 

There Art unfolds her graceful wings, 

And toil, its songs industrial sings ; 

And schools throw open wide their door, 

As gates to broadest fields of lore. 

Prominently among articles manufactured there is 
that of native jewellery, for which the local resources 
seem unlimited. Every jewellery store has its show¬ 
cases supplied with specimens of its own manufacture. 
Exquisite chains, made of native gold, can be had in 
an almost endless variety of styles ; also brooches, 
* ear-rings, finger-rings, bracelets, sleeve buttons, 
charms, studs, etc., the sets of which are of native 
precious stones. Much of the labor of cutting and 
polishing is done East, there being but one lapidary in 
the city. The stones are cut in sets and attached to 
cards, from which selections may be made, and set¬ 
tings ordered to suit the purchaser. Among these 
jewels we noticed moss agates, crystals, chalcedony 
(in great variety), and topaz in its different hues. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


61 


Any person living at a distance can design tlieir own 
jewellery and forward their orders to manufacturers 
who can be relied upon to fill them satisfactorily. 
The prices will always correspond to the quality of 
material used and amount of labor expended. It is 
valued more highly in the home market than that of 
Eastern make for which the same quality is claimed ; 
and Eastern people acknowledge its superiority by 
giving the manufacturers of Denver their patronage. 

We noticed several small museums where native 
minerals, birds, quadrupeds, reptiles, skeletons of 
animals and plants could be obtained. Associated 
with the mint, another place of marked interest to 
travellers, as well as home enterprise, is also a val¬ 
uable cabinet, including native ores, a fine collection 
of coin, etc. 

During the year 1878 a new town was founded 
suburban to Denver, and christened with the appro¬ 
priately poetic name Argo. It is the present location 
of the Boston and Colorado Smelting Works. These 
works were removed from Black Hawk to this place 
under the supervision of Professor 1ST. P. Ilill, 
formerly professor of chemistry in Brown University, 
Providence, B. I., who organized the company con¬ 
trolling its interests in 1867, and who has since then 
had the direct general management of them. 

Three railroad tracks directly communicate with 
them in different compartments of the building, each 
serving in its respective capacity. These buildings, 
which are of stone, cover six acres of ground, the 


62 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


whole, when completed, to be enclosed by a stone 
wall eight feet high. They are known as the most 
extensive works of their kind in the world. 

They have a capacity of a hundred tons per day, 
and give employment to one hundred and fifty men. 
The silver is first extracted from the ore, and after¬ 
wards the gold, by a secret process, said to be known 
only to the metallurgist of this firm. The yield of this 
establishment during the eleven years of its existence 
has been over fourteen and one half millions dollars. 

Denver is a commercial city, extending its branches 
of trade all along the inland frontier. 

But some important features were lacking ; and as 
a picture is worthless without its appropriate depth of 
shade, I shall not feel that Denver is worthily 
brought out in this pen sketch without a little shad¬ 
ing. The lots were quite too small for a place 
favored with such ample opportunities for enlarging 
its borders. It still lacks its State Capitol, though 
some of its school-houses might readily be mistaken 
for one, and the inference was that the State chose 
to first make statesmen, educating them with the 
growth of that new commonwealth to its necessities, 
and moulding their talents to meet its requirements. 

We visited one of its cemeteries. The cold white 
marble bore its inscriptions there, as in other cities of 
the dead ; but upon its mounds the flowers refused to 
bloom. No willow tenderly unfolded its branches 
and dropped them with a soft lullaby lovingly over 
the lowly beds of the cherished ones who slept 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


63 


within. No evergreen sang reqniems for those there 
at rest, nor raised its spires to point out the home of 
the soul. The tuneful winds swept through the nar¬ 
row streets, leaving their symphonies all unsung ; for 
no harp hung in shady branches to catch its seolian 
strains. Only a shaft of marble, quarried from the 
bosom of earth, a slab, or a simple urn, told where 
this or that jew T el lay imbedded. But every mound 
was sacred, watered by tears of griefs, where the only 
minstrelsy was the wail of broken hearts. Lonely ? 
The city was densely populated, yet the desolation 
was painful. Was this deserted ground ? No ; foot¬ 
steps pressed lightly and noiselessly through the 
streets, and occasionally a group of mourners went 
there to bid their last farewell to some endeared one. 
Neglected ? No ; but lovingly endeared to and 
cherished by many a crushed heart, made hallowed by 
its consecrated relics—baptized by the association of 
holy memories. The urns, strewn here and there, 
bearing testimonials of affection, were all sweet 
forget-me-nots, the fragrance of whose bloom was 
incense to the departed. All that gentle hands could 
do was done to embalm mortality with emblems of 
those things with which our faith crowns immortality. 
But God does not water his acre there with reviving 
showers and refreshing rains. Trailing robes rustle 
upon the sere crisp grass, as they sweep over it, while 
yet the midsummer sun scorches with its burning 
rays. The thirsting air sips the pure fresh water from 
vessels taken there to preserve memorial tokens, with 


64 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


a relish aldn to sacrilegious irreverence ; and almost 
anything of life soon dies in that atmosphere without 
constant recourse to moisture. 

The number of tourists and invalids resorting to 
that and neighboring towns is constantly increasing, 
while not a few are each year added to the list of 
citizens. 

The discovery of gold in the bed of Cherry Creek, 
a small tributary of South Platte River, was the 
shadow that foretold the event of the coming city. 
To that Eldorado the gold-seeker hastened with a zeal 
worthy a better reward than fortune held in store for 
him. The slower and more certain roads to wealth 
were abandoned by those who were too impetuous to 
await the harvests of the husbandman ; and the 
avaricious mechanic laid down the implements with 
which he wrought with skilful hand, and both fell 
into the ranks of the moving line that constituted the 
pioneer advance or vanguard of the great army that 
has since had the bold hardihood and courage to delve 
into the mountains, penetrate their artery of iron, 
strike at their veins of silver, break up their petrified 
skeletons, turn their carbon into flame, and their 
walls into crucibles, from which should flow liquid 
streams of gold. 

That many of these brave boys fell in the struggle 
and perished in the battles they were fighting, is neither 
unnatural or strange. That many a young man sacri¬ 
ficed his all at the altar of the god of fortune, and 
turned homeward with heavy heart, forgetful of his 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


65 


devotion to this deceptive idol, is not marvel- 
ions. 

But their work w r as not alone to dig for gold. It 
was to engineer thoroughfares through the wilderness 
of mountains ; to establish the locations of cities ; and 
to open the avenues to new industries, and encourage 
new enterprises, which were to be the chief resources 
of a nation’s wealth. They suffered for want of 
proper geological surveys. Their engineering was 
imperfect, and their decisions were based upon ran¬ 
dom conclusions. They worked with uncertain results, 
and their system of operations was crude and unfin¬ 
ished. But all this was necessary. The trails of ad¬ 
venture have since been followed by the explorer, the 
speculator, the pleasure-seeker, and the artisan. An 
enterprise that wrought ruin to so many at first is 
being conducted now with comparative certainty and 
.safety. Wild hallucinations, shimmering fancies, and 
deceptive chimeras have given place to the more 
reliable results of intelligent and scientific operations, 
which have brought us, instead, the trade dollar and 
the eagle. 

While the system of mining has been developing, 
maturing, and extending, we find, on turning to the 
place where gold was first discovered, instead of a 
tented field, or a group of log cabins, covered with 
poles, in turn overlaid with earth, Denver, the city 
into whose coffers much of this wealth of treasure 
rolls. It greets us with its din of trade and its hum 
of industry. It was there the first habitation was 


66 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


erected upon tlie soil of Colorado, which, in an archi¬ 
tectural sense, still serves as a model for the pioneer of 
the mountains. The outlook from this site is one of 
picturesque beauty. The near foot hills, and the 
distant snow - capped ranges, interblent with green 
slopes and granite summits, all lying under an ever- 
changing sky on one hand and the vast plains on the 
other, always engage the observing eye with some 
new attraction, and lend to pleasure the welcome 
charm of some new delight. The west winds come 
Afresh and crisp from the mountains, and the southern 
breezes have scarcely shaken the tropical perfumes 
from their ethereal robes, ere they fan the brow of the 
denizen of the bridal city. The thirsting plains 
absorb the malarial clouds which the eastern winds 
bear westward from the valley (oj neutralize their 
poisons by chemicals given off from the soil), and the 
northern gales there sing their boreal songs. 

Any one who can find rest on the weary journey 
home would there find a befitting place to lay aside 
care, and drop awhile the toils and struggles that beset 
us on its pilgrimage. 

There the sun seldom veils its face but for a few 
minutes or a few hours at a time. It is a remarkable 
record, made by the Signal Service Bureau, that, 
during three years commencing with 1873 and end¬ 
ing with 1875, only eleven days occurred in which 
the sun was not seen in Denver. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


67 


CHAPTER YII. 

Climate of Colorado—Idealized—Dealing with Facts—Resort for 
Invalids—Who are benefited—Consumptives—Asthmatics— 
At what stage Consumptives should be taken there—When 
not to go—Consumptives may be cured, or Life lengthened— 
Altitude—Its Effects upon Invalids—Effects of Climate upon 
Asthmatics—Cause and its Cure—Longevity—Rejuvenating 
Influence of Climate—Its stimulating Effects—Effects upon 
chronic Diseases—Agents essential in producing climatic 
Changes—How far determined by Air—How far determined 
by Water—How far determined by Food—Hygienic Hints 
—The Number of Invalids resorting there increasing—The 
same is true of Tourists. 

Bright beauty floods thy radiant sky, 

Fair golden land. 

Sweet bloom of health thy fields o’erlie, 

Fair golden land, 

For pleasant glades, or mountains high, 

Or matchless clouds, in every dye. 

With all the world thy scenes will vie, 

Fair golden land. 

The climate of Colorado, so far as pertains to 
health and longevity, seems at present to enlist the 
attention of nearly every one. It has come to be 
idolized by some as the land where time never wipes 
the roses from the cheeks of youth ; the land where 
none grow old ; and where those who have reached 
its salubrious realms at the ripened period of three¬ 
score years and ten are constantly rejuvenated and 
never suffer death ; the land where the fell destroyer, 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


disease, lias never stricken robust manhood, laid its 
blight upon effeminate womanhood, nor withered the 
hopes of frail childhood ; but where the invalid in 
quest of health is reinvigorated and restored, and pain 
is otherwise unknown ; the land where wealth comes 
through magic art, where throbbing, wrecking 
anxieties never give place to furrows of care, but 
pleasure rules each passing hour. 

To those who have only terror associated with the 
chemical change of our nature called death, the first 
cherished error is doubtless a beautiful fancy or a 
happy illusion, while to those whose enjoyment is 
founded upon wealth and luxury, or to whom the 
chemistry of human happiness finds its fullest range 
in a life of ease and fruitless prosperity, the latter 
affords an agreeable anodyne. 

In dealing with facts these hallucinations are made 
to disappear ; and while we could but wish that the 
original paradise of earth might again be found, we 
discovered no such Eden there. 

Of the large class of invalids who are continually 
migrating to that country in search of health, the 
great majority are those who are suffering from 
phthisis or asthma. Until quite recently it has been 
considered an established fact that not only were these 
diseases cured, in their first stages, under the invig¬ 
orating influences of the healthful climate of Colorado, 
but that neither of these diseases were ever contracted 
or developed there. But within the past few years 
they have been known to occur where no taint of them 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


69 


could be traced previous to their appearance in that 
climate. Though such instances have been very rare, 
yet these facts being established in these almost iso¬ 
lated cases, proves the same liable to occur again. 

Outside the causes usually recognized as agents 
producing phthisis, we have accounted for its origin 
in the following manner: Under certain circum¬ 
stances it is contagious. Persons associating with in¬ 
valids suffering from the distressing effects of this 
malady, inhale the diseased particles of matter afloat 
in the atmosphere, that have been eliminated by ex¬ 
piration from the lungs of the sick. When the lungs 
of the former are too weak to eliminate this substance 
again, its presence produces an irritation of the mu¬ 
cous linings of the lungs, to which it adheres, until 
it finally is absorbed through it into the lung tissues, 
and literally becomes the seed of disease, sown upon 
soil that is destined to bring forth the fruits of death. 

This process of conveying disease by the absorption 
of diseased particles, usually termed contagion, is on 
the same principle of vaccination, in a less tangible 
form of communication. To sustain this theory, I 
will here give on medical authority (taken from a 
report in a medical journal) the result of an experi¬ 
ment several times repeated in one of our State 
prisons. The strongest and most vigorous inmates on 
the list of “ life members” were selected and vacci¬ 
nated with pus from the ulcers of the diseased lungs 
of consumptives, the virus used being taken from the 
expectorations of those in the last stages of consump- 


70 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


tion ; and it is unnecessary to add that every person 
tlms experimented npon afterwards died of that dis¬ 
ease. 

Experiment having proven onr premises correct, 
we can readily account for the origin of phthisis in a 
climate antagonistic to such results. 

Statistics show that persons who go to Colorado in 
the incipient stages of consumption are usually greatly 
benefited, and their lives seemingly prolonged, while 
in many cases cures evidently have been effected. 
They also show that those who have made the change 
of climate in the later stages of that disease seem to 
sink more rapidly under the light and stimulating in¬ 
fluence of the atmosphere, and death is hastened in 
consequence. 

Consumption may be attributable to the result of 
different causes ; and is, therefore, susceptible of 
classification ; consequently it will be considered under 
the following heads : 

Tubercular Consumption. 

Catarrhal Consumption. 

Asthmatic Consumption. 

Bronchial Consumption. 

Hepatic Consumption. 

Many cases of the first type have come directly 
under the observation of the writer. One case, 
now under almost daily' observation, was sent to 
Denver when a decline, together with other general 
symptoms of consumption, first manifested itself. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


71 


The disease was of a hereditary nature, rendering re¬ 
covery less hopeful. After a stay of about two years, 
the patient returned to the Mississippi Yalley, where 
she has been residing over a year, and reports no 
returning sign of her former disease. 

Another case I will here occupy space to mention. 

A lady living upon the bank of the Mississippi 
River removed to the city of Denver about ten years 
ago. Several fits of illness, occurring with each suc¬ 
ceeding autumn, followed ; in each of which tubercles 
were raised from the lungs. Rut a few days since we 
learned that she felt that her recovery was a perma¬ 
nent one, and that she could judiciously submit to 
live in any climate. 

The cases which these two represent are legion, 
while of those less fortunate, in most instances great 
relief has been obtained, and length of days evidently 
added to the sum of life. 

But all instances I have known attended with 
permanently favorable results have been where pa¬ 
tients sought a climate west of the plains when, or 
soon after, the first symptoms of the disease were 
manifested. 

The second, third, and fourth classes of cases are 
the result of the development of the Several diseases 
respectively which their qualifying nomenclature 
would suggest. 

When either .catarrh, asthma, or bronchial affec¬ 
tion, with pulmonary tendencies, is contracted in 
other climates, their natural cure is, in a great 


72 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


majority of cases, is found west of the plains, when a 
change of climate is seasonably effected, and a res¬ 
idence in that atmosphere of restorative balms made 
permanent. 

Hepatic (I here make use of a term that I am not 
aware lias before been applied) consumption embraces 
that class of cases in which the glandular system is 
prominently regarded as abnormal. These cases are 
not infrequent in the Mississippi Yalley and other 
low malarial districts, and in large cities ; also in 
vitiated houses and illy ventilated rooms. This 
peculiar form of disease is endemic—that is, produced 
by bad air, bad water, or both. The spleen, or liver, 
or both, are enlarged, and the cough is, in first stages, 
often recognized as proceeding from the diseased con¬ 
ditions of the liver. Hence the name I have chosen 
to apply. Whether the diseases of both lungs and 
glands naturally originate from the same cause, and 
are contracted independent of each other, or, to the 
contrary, the lungs become involved through the influ¬ 
ence of diseased glands, is still a question. The seem¬ 
ing truth would be that both sets of organs were 
impaired primarily by the same cause ; and secondarily 
by their direct relationships to and their sympathy 
with (action upon) each other. 

A seasonable change of climate then to a place 
where the producing causes are unknown by their 
dreaded consequences is nature’s remedial agent ; and 
only under such conditions may a permanent cure be 
hoped for. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


73 


A case of this class of consumptives was sent from 
the Mississippi Valley to Colorado in 1872. He re¬ 
mained in Denver a short time, and then went to 
Pueblo, where he has since resided. In 1876 he an¬ 
nounced himself perfectly well, and said he had 
gained fifty pounds in flesh. Ilis is a representative 
case of those who go there to remain ; but of those 
who go there temporarily I cannot now cite a single 
instance where there is proof of certain cure, though 
there may be many. Where patients have partially 
recovered and considered themselves out of danger on 
returning to their former home, their former symp¬ 
toms soon manifested themselves. 

A residence in some other State might correct this 
result ; and doubtless would in many cases of the sec¬ 
ond, third, and fourth, if not in the fifth classifica¬ 
tion. 

Whatever may be the direct cause of this malady, 
we are still further indebted to statistics for the fact 
that during the period between eighteen and thirty 
years of age this destroyer of human life woos most 
of its victims. By passing this or the earlier period 
of one’s life in a climate where no malarial poisons 
infect the air, producing irritation of the respiratory 
organs, and wdiere the atmosphere is so light as to re- 
quire an increased volume to be inhaled, directly caus¬ 
ing the air cells to expand their growth, and resulting 
in a healthier development of lung tissues, it is easy 
to see that even hereditary conditions tending to favor 
an enemy so fatal to human life may be overcome. 


74 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


weak lungs gain strength, and impaired constitutions 
be revitalized. 

Sometimes even a temporary stay or prolonged visit 
to this Mecca of America produces marked and last¬ 
ing benefits where actual disease has not commenced 
its ravages. But this result is more particularly lim¬ 
ited to childhood, when all the changes of the system 
are active, than when it is applied to adults and per¬ 
sons of mature age. 

Some four years ago a gentleman in Wisconsin 
sickened with consumption. The disease was an in¬ 
heritance, bequeathed him by his mother, hut de¬ 
veloped by breathing infected air. lie went to Col¬ 
orado when too late to derive any permanent benefit 
from any source. But he had an infant daughter who 
seemed to inherit the disease which proved fatal to 
her father. The wife and child accompanied the hus¬ 
band and father on this hopeful tour to Denver, where 
they remained but a few months. About a year after¬ 
wards I saw the child. Its chest had expanded grad¬ 
ually until of more than average size for a child of its 
age ; its cheeks were rosy ; and every indication of 
health favorable. Similar instances have occurred, 
of which mention could he made from personal knowl¬ 
edge were it necessary to do so to confirm a fact 
which needs only to appeal to one’s reason to he 
regarded. 

What altitude is most desirable, is a practical ques¬ 
tion, though it cannot be answered in a general way. 

Before starting consult a physician who knows 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


75 


something of the climate, if possible. If not, leave 
the train whenever you sense increased inconvenience 
in breathing, and rest a few days or weeks, and jour¬ 
ney on whenever you feel that you can bear it. It is 
always desirable to consult a physician upon reaching 
Denver or other towns west of the plains, who will 
advise you with reference to location while in Col¬ 
orado. 

In speaking of the climate of Colorado in a general 
way, injustice is done the subject treated, as altitude 
in that State is very variable, and its influence is prob¬ 
ably more marked than any other condition affecting 
climate in that location, by its specific effects upon 
persons of w T eak or diseased respiratory organs. Few 
of this class of persons can bear the higher altitudes. 
Only the exceptions are benefited by an altitude 
higher than that of Denver, while many are unable to 
bear even that location. 

Asthma may be produced by either animal, veg¬ 
etable, or mineral inhalations of a character to cause 
irritation of the mucous linings of the bronchial tubes. 
Persons affected by this disease while living in a val¬ 
ley, often find relief in removing to an elevation. It 
is a disease that not unfrequently finds its origin in 
one climate and its cure in another. It is said to have 
attacked its victim when occupying a house upon one 
side of a street, and released its grasp upon a change 
of residence to the other side of the same street. 
This was probably due to being placed where rooms 
were either dark or damp, or where there was some 


76 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


local infection, and breathing the spores which would 
naturally result from this cause in the first case ; and 
changing to a place where these conditions did not 
exist in the latter case. As in change of houses so in 
change of climate ; leaving the producing causes, one 
is released from their results. 

Where this disease exists from other causes, other 
treatment is naturally required. We chanced to meet 
with a gentleman from one of the States east of the 
plains, who had for years been afflicted with asthma, 
and could get no permanent relief while there. Upon 
his removal to Denver, where he has since lived, he 
found the disease either cured or passive ; the symp¬ 
toms having abated only to return whenever he went 
back to his former home on temporary visits. The 
same result is said to be noted in almost every 
instance where asthma is uncomplicated with other 
diseases. 

There is in that climate evidently either a remedy 
surpassing the wisdom and skill of the savans of the 
medical profession, or else in other climates a produc- 
ing cause for this disease against which they are 
unable to contend. 

Whichever this may be, the relief to the afflicted is 
as sure and as welcome in one case as in the other, 
and the end sought by change of climate as certain to 
be obtained. 

Perhaps this result may be chiefly due to either the 
dryness or lightness of the air, or both. The fact 
that asthmatics often begin to find relief immediately 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


n 


after leaving the lowlands of the Missouri River Val¬ 
ley, might be held as an argument in either case. 
Whatever may he our belief, no chemical analysis has 
as yet determined the peculiar physical property, con¬ 
dition, or quality of air most effectual as a curative 
agent. 

The altitude sought must be determined by the 
conditions of the patients. As a rule, it ranges below 
6000 feet. There, as elsewhere, time is ever busy in 
dusting the pearls from the robes of youth. 

Instances of longevity are comparatively few. This 
is doubtless due to the fact that a large majority of 
those who emigrate to that State are invalids, whose 
lives early terminate ; and also to the rule that the 
great majority of those who go there in health are 
young people, or those of middle age. But the few 
whom we there saw whose locks were dusted with the 
pearls of time, or silvered with the talismanic threads 
of years, walked with fleet elastic step, spoke with 
vivacity, and carried the weighty honors of age as an 
unconscious task—one to be preferred rather than 
endured. 

There is a shade of truth in the assertion that aged 
people rejuvenate there ; or that they retrace the 
walks of time, journeying back over the wayside of 
years ; or, having found a way station, they take rest 
before they journey farther. They there ofttimes lay 
down burdens of disease that have a long time been 
borne. Their sluggish circulation receives new im¬ 
petus, and flows on with youthful vigor. Respiration 


78 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


is more rapid and digestion more prompt. Hence 
dyspeptics are greatly benefited there. The functions 
of life are all more active and its endeavors more 
earnest. Force is acquired to contend against the 
blights of disease (particularly in its chronic forms), 
and the infirmities it brings ; while in lower altitudes 
people often suffer from want of power to eliminate 
from the system the seeds which ripen into suffering 
and death. This is not true to all. Some find there, 
as elsewhere, no wayside inn for weary nature to pause 
in its onward course ; but, stimulated and exhilarated 
by mountain air, they hasten on to the boundary lines 
of time with unremitted and accelerated speed. 

In making a change of climate a superficial observer 
usually recognizes a change of air as perhaps the 
chief or only source productive of change to the 
animal economy. But when we consider that the in¬ 
fluence of air is largely modified by the gases given 
off in emanations from the soil, and that water holds 
these gases in solution, whether in the form of vapor 
or in its more tangible forms, we must recognize three 
powerful elements—viz., earth, air, and water—as 
agents almost or quite inseparably at work to produce 
the results thereby experienced. 

But it is not of changes directly attendant upon 
location alone that I would speak, but upon secondary 
results of location in association with primary ones. 
In locations where wells are affected by poisonous 
drainage, the land is necessarily comparatively low, 
and the soil destitute of chemicals to neutralize the 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


79 


infecting poisons. Hence the district is malarial. 
In this case the water evaporated from both land 
and water surfaces is charged with malarial poison ; 
clouds also absorb it from the air, when drifted there 
from more healthful points ; and cistern water be¬ 
comes impure while it is yet in a state of vapor. It 
is also true that an otherwise healthful locality may 
become unhealthy when it is subject to prevailing 
winds from unhealthy places. If it is a custom to use 
cistern water in the latter case, careful observation in 
noting the direction from which clouds come, and at¬ 
tention to shutting off the contents of storms when 
there is indication of malarial conditions, will greatly 
influence local sanitary tendencies. But the changes 
wrought by a change of climate is not due alone to 
both air and water. The ingredients of the soil, 
which are soluble in water, are taken up in the growth 
of vegetation, and either become a property, jper se, 
of the vegetables, fruits, and grains consumed, or by 
their presence give rise to new compounds, into 
which they enter, thus aiding in determining their 
quality, and their effects upon the health of the con¬ 
sumer. The same is true by analogy of the chemical 
action of air upon the animal economy. Hence the 
food we eat has a direct bearing upon the functions of 
life. Where both air and water are favorable to 
health, the food produced by native growth is usually 
so.* 

* A bad quality of air in dwellings, whether caused by loca- . 
tion or from want of ventilation, whether limited to a sick 


80 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


The number of invalids resorting to Colorado is con¬ 
tinually increasing, with a good record of favorable 
results. 

room or to public rooms where a large number of persons are 
convened, may be corrected by the use of sea salt (nature’s pu¬ 
rifier) held in solution in water, and subjected to slow heat, 
thereby producing evaporation. People living inland may, in 
this way, enjoy sea air, without the expense and inconvenience 
of leaving home. For these hygienic hints I am indebted to my 
husband, Dr. W. A. Gordon, whose views, I trust, I, at least, 
will be excused for promulgating.] 



CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


81 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Leaving Denver—Preparations necessary—Our Jewellery and 
finer dress goods to be left—Conveyance—A difficult Question 
practically solved—Elfects of attenuated Atmosphere upon 
Vision—The Eye is educated, yet it may be deceived—Our 
"Way lay along the Foot Hills—Night finds us upon the Plains 
—We go into Camp for the first Time—Our camping Ground 
—Boulder City—The City is built upon the Plains—Its Popu¬ 
lation—Description in brief—State University—IIow it was 
secured—Surrounding Country—Watered by Irrigation—Crops 
Superior in Quality—Produce sold by Avoirdupois—No Dew 
—Coal—Leaving Boulder—Sugar Loaf Mountain—Longmont 
—Table Mountain—Long’s Peak—Hog’s Back—Farming 
Country—Heavy Crops—Expectant Farmers. 

Ye steeds of ancient pedigree, 

Ye mountain ship, with white sails spread ! 

Ye gods, who rule the turfy sea ! 

Was there, for us, nought else instead? 

In quite too short a time the morning dawned, clear 
and bright, on which we were to take leave of Den¬ 
ver. As it was decided not to take our Saratoga 
trunks, the process of unpacking and repacking w r as 
commenced. Our finer dry goods and jewels were 
replaced to be left, as we could find little use for them 
in camp. A dry goods box (which afterwards served 
as a kitchen for our coal oil stove), and one trunk, 
containing the necessary wardrobe of four persons, 
our tent, shot-gun, bedding, and edibles were our only 
encumbrances. These were hastily packed, when, 


32 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


about nine o’clock a.m., our conveyance, consisting 
of a substantial wagon, covered with white canvas, 
and drawn by a span of mules, was brought up before 
the door. A hasty survey of the vehicle was made, 
its dimensions carefully taken in, and we were left 
in doubt as to the results of our demands upon it. It 
had been engaged for a party of eight persons ; and 
where so much baggage and so many persons were to 
be provided with room, was a question to be demon¬ 
strated. The packing soon commenced, and within 
one hour the question was practically solved ; for our 
effects had been stored away, and we were comfort¬ 
ably seated, and on our way to the mountains. 

The clear subtle atmosphere, through which every¬ 
thing around us was observed, made distant objects 
seemingly near, and brought within our range of 
vision beautiful views that we otherwise had not seen. 

The fact that the eye is educated before it can prop¬ 
erly estimate distances is not only true, but it is also 
true that the comparative density of the air so inter¬ 
feres with the most reliable judgment, that persons 
who are accustomed to making observations in a low, 
dense, or humid climate, are guilty of the most eccen¬ 
tric errors in passing judgment concerning distances 
either upon the plains or in the mountains. 

As we gazed upon the long ranges, looming up 
before us, we could readily fancy them within easy 
reach of an average pedestrian, or that a short drive 
would bring us within their hidden enclosures. But 
our course lay along the foot hills, and night found 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


83 


ns still ont upon tlie plains ; when wearily we pitched 
our tents, and for the first time our little party went 
into camp. Our camping ground lay six miles south¬ 
east of Boulder City, a pretty town, claiming a pop¬ 
ulation of 5000 inhabitants. For that point we started 
early the next morning, after breafasting and hastily 
arranging our travelling domicile. We reached there 
about nine o’clock a.m., where we made a stay of 
nearly two hours. 

A most cordial and agreeable reception awaited 
us, which had a tendency to more pleasantly associate 
everything about the place to us, and to impress the 
memory more favorably than it otherwise would have 
been. 

The city is neatly laid out, almost under the 
shadow of a mountain that arises in close proximity 
on one side to the height of 4000 feet. (This moun¬ 
tain, and other mountains of the same range, is com¬ 
posed of an uplift of metamorphosed sandstone.) 
Its residences are, as a rule, surrounded by large in¬ 
closures, so that the town is spread out over a com¬ 
paratively large surface of ground. 

The most prominent feature of the place is the 
State University, which stands apart from and in full 
relief of other buildings. It is built of brick, is 
stately, and well proportioned. The surrounding 
scenery is such as has the effect to inspire the student 
with sublime conceptions of thought. Citizens who 
had gone there as pioneers, dependent upon the avail¬ 
able resources of an undeveloped country upon which 


84 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


to found tlieir fortunes, generously donated $15,000 
toward the erection and completion of this edifice, 
thereby securing its present location. 

Business seemed active, and the place manifested 
thrift and enterprise. On all except the mountainous 
sides lay rich fields of cultivated land. Ho better 
w T heat is raised in the United States than Colorado 
produces. In a climate not subject to summer rains 
there can be no rust upon the crops ; and where water 
is supplied by irrigation there is no danger of 
drouth. The soil being equally fertile, crops bear 
a larger yield, and are not only more reliable but of a 
better quality than in the older States. "We ate bread 
made of this wheat, which was sweet and delicious. 
We feasted upon potatoes grown there, which were of 
superior quality. Corn grows less luxuriantly owing 
to the nights being cool ; though the more hardy 
varieties are successfully raised. G-arden vegetables 
compare more favorably in size and quality with those 
raised in California than with those grown in the 
Eastern States. They are large, rich, and juicy, and 
offer almost irresistible temptation to a hungry palate. 
A gardener of unimpeachable veracity informed us 
that he had raised twelve hundred bushels (by weight) 
on one and three fourths acres of ground. He also 
told us of another man who had raised twenty tons of 
turnips on one acre of ground. This is but a fair 
sample of the productive capacity of the soil when 
fertilized by irrigation. 

Produce is all sold by the pound, instead of by 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


85 


measure, which is certainly a more accurate manner of 
dealing. 

In that climate the dew never falls, and the even¬ 
ing air holds no clouds of fog ; but, to the contrary, 
it is dry, cool, clear, and exhilarating. 

Several veins of lignite coal have been discovered in 
that region, which have afforded a good yield so far as 
they have been worked. Resinous substances are 
found in these mines, as are also petrifactions of pine. 
These circumstances furnish evidence that the veins 
there found are formed of carbonized resinous trees, 
perhaps differing little from those that now constitute 
the mountain forests. It was nearing noon when we 
found ourselves prepared to pursue our journey. 
Leaving Boulder City in the distance, the principal 
object that engaged our attention was Sugar Loaf 
Mountain. AVe had observed it with special interest 
the day previous, as it stood out before us in full de¬ 
tail of outline and proportion, isolated from the gen¬ 
eral range, and seemingly a stranger to the surround¬ 
ing heights—a mountain solitaire , situated within a 
vast meadow,* and unlike other summits in its resem¬ 
blance to some stupendous work of art. Its appear¬ 
ance was that of a vast cone skilfully built by the 
hand of man. It arose with almost uniform inclina¬ 
tion from base to apex, reaching a height of over 
1000 feet. 

Table Mountain, so called from the beautiful 
plateaus upon its summit, and Longmont, an 
elongated elevation named from its peculiar shape, 


86 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


were distinctly visible during tlie afternoon. Long’s 
Peak, named in honor of Colonel S. II. Long, U. S. 
A., who commanded an expedition there in 1819, was 
prominently in sight from the first time we canglit a 
glimpse of it from the plains until we there lost sight 
of it again. The ITog Back, broken, deformed, and 
crooked, with here and there a lost vertebra, consisting 
of a series of parallel ridges or foot hills, some of 
which reach an elevation of over 10,000 feet, and are 
from ten to twenty miles in width, and co-extensive 
with the whole general Pocky Mountain range, lay at 
out left, as we traced our way along the coast line of 
the plains. Sometimes they were lost, in almost level 
distances, and then reappeared in prominent heights. 
The rocks of which they are principally composed are 
sandstone, limestone, and, in less quantities, granite 
and gypsum. 

A few miles further on our journey, and we would 
be exploring the mysterious highways lying between 
and hidden by those lofty ranges which lay piled up 
and drawn out before us. These few miles lay 
through St. Vfain’s Yalley, a very productive farm¬ 
ing country, watered by irrigation. 

We were informed that wheat there averaged fifty 
bushels to the acre. Furrows, but few feet apart, 
were run parallel through the whole length of each 
field, and filled with water, whenever the crop de¬ 
manded moisture. Farmers were busy and happy in 
expectation of a bountiful harvest. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO , 


87 


CHAPTER IX. 

Nearing Night—St. Vrain’s River—Tiie Bridge three Miles be¬ 
low—Dangers in fording the Stream—Should we plunge in 
and take our Chances—A grave Question—But little Time to 
consider it—Should Accident happen. Death was imminent— 
Railroad ties floating down from the Timber Regions—Evidence 
of recent fordings—A Ranchman demonstrates the possibility 
of crossing—We risk our Lives in the Undertaking—The 
Team carefully driven into the mad Waters—Brave Moun¬ 
taineers—Their heroic Conduct—Perilous Situation of our 
advance—Human Freight—Fear of one of the Children—Sec¬ 
ond crossing effected—Consequent suffering in store for our 
Rescuers—Entering the Gates to God’s beautiful Temples— 
Grandeur of the Scenery—The Effort to suddenly compre¬ 
hend such sublime Magnitudes—We rode on in Silence—The 
Great Treasure House of Nature. 

The sun hung in the heaven’s decline, 

And poured its beams, in wavy line, 

Through floating clouds of tinted mist, 

Which clothed the earth in amethyst; 

Blending soft rays of azure dye 
With crimson tints of western sky. 

It was nearing night when we reached St. Vrain’s 
Canyon. Close by the entrance ran the St. Vrain’s 
River, wildly rushing on in its descent to the plains. 
In it were floating railroad ties, which the current 
was carrying from the timber regions above to their 
destinations below. We reached its shore, where there 
were evident signs of it having been forded ; but the 
dangers it presented were threatening in the extreme,. 


88 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


and we shuddered at the thought of our team being 
driven into its waters, laden with human freight. 

The bridge was three miles below, and it was be¬ 
coming late for us to fulfil the accomplishment of 
our day’s journey. Should we plunge in, and take 
our chances of reaching the opposite shore, or should 
we go back and take the bridge road ? Which ? 
This was the question to be discussed, and yet, grave 
as it was, there was but little time in which to con¬ 
sider it. 

The current was strong and swift, and should acci¬ 
dent happen, fatal disaster seemed almost certain. 
The fact that a well-defined road led into the stream 
upon one side, and from it on the opposite bank, to¬ 
gether with the evidences it bore of having recently 
been travelled, went to prove that to ford it was prac¬ 
ticable. But only a small minority of our party were 
willing to demonstrate it at the risk required. While 
children clung to their fathers, and wfith cries of deep 
distress begged them to desist from the undertaking, 
and wives protested in tears, a ranchman came up, on 
the opposite shore, riding a large black horse, and 
plunged into the sweeping torrent. Anxiously we 
watched each step of the fearless steed, until it had 
measured the depth of the foaming water, and borne 
its noble rider to us unharmed. The conclusion this 
adventure furnished us was that apparent as well as 
real dangers might be brayed with possible escape. 

It was accordingly decided that the freight should 
first be taken across, and afterwards the party. In this 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


89 


emergency, six noble, brave, stalwart mountaineers 
appeared upon the other sider of the river (each bear¬ 
ing a pike pole, about ten feet long, used in dislodg¬ 
ing floating pieces of timber), and there waited to 
render us assistance, if necessary. 

The team was carefully driven into the mad waters, 
attached to the wagon, in which were our tents, bed¬ 
ding, edibles, and clothing. When the main current 
was reached the mules were lifted from their feet by 
its force. Encumbered as they were, they were un¬ 
able to swim, and no further advance was possible 
without aid. 

Seeing the perilous situation of our advance, where 
a floating tie, with its acquired force, might at any 
moment come in collision with and demolish the ve¬ 
hicle, sweeping away its treasures of human life into 
the relentless jaws of death, these six generous bene¬ 
factors simultaneously sprang into the leaping torrent, 
ready to risk their lives for those whom they had 
never seen before, lifted the bed of the wagon above 
the waves, bore it over the swift current (thus ena¬ 
bling the team to reach a place where they could gain 
a foothold), and refused to go ashore until all danger 
had been passed. 

When the conveyance was returned for its load of 
human freight, w r e were not in doubt as to the chances 
we were taking. Such was the fear of one of the 
children that we were obliged to place her in a posi¬ 
tion to hide every evidence of threatening peril, to 
ward off the shock that was already telling, too plainly, 


90 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


tliat her weak nerves (debilitated by sickness) conld 
bear to be taxed no further. 

Encouraged by the demonstrations of strength and 
fortitude of those to whom we might have been com¬ 
mitting our lives, the remainder of the party were 
willing to accept the results of the undertaking. 
Committing our all into the hands of God and the in¬ 
struments he there made use of to save us, we rode into 
what might have been the chasm of death, where the 
waves, yawning to receive us, were ready to bury us 
from sight, and a second crossing was effected in the 
same way the first had been. 

These men refused mercenary reward for their 
philanthropic deed, and immediately hastened on up 
the stream to fulfil the duties of their laborious mis¬ 
sion. Their clothing was drenched with the icy water 
that had but just come from its home among the 
snow-clad mountains, when they left us, and the chill 
of the night air was creeping down into the canyon, 
from which their only relief was a camp fire and a 
blanket. 

The same readiness to extend favor to strangers we 
found to be generally characteristic of those with 
whom we met, during our sojourn among the moun¬ 
tains. Every one found a ready welcome to these ru¬ 
ral retreats, to which many may never be permitted to 
return, but in the fond delights of pleasant memories. 

As we entered the gates to those beautiful temples, 
upreared by the supreme might of Him whose hand 
upholds and sustains the universe, we became silent, 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


91 • 

in contemplation of the awful grandeur with which 
we were surrounded. The inspiration was painful, 
so suddenly were we called upon to comprehend such 
sublime magnitudes and altitudes as were here con¬ 
stantly presented in the vast panorama of nature. 
The grandeur of the scenery so far surpassed that 
which we had been accustomed to comprehend, that 
time was required to give stretch to our capacities, 
and to adapt ourselves to the demands upon them. 
Too absorbed in what we saw, and too fascinated with 
the enchantment of what we could scarcely believe 
real, to have any desire to speak, we rode on in si¬ 
lence, following the meandering road around the base 
of heights that looked coldly down upon us, or up 
their acclivities and down their declivities, gradually 
gaining elevation, our vision everywhere greeted 
with some new surprise, or some marvellous wonder 
that had been given place in this great museum of 
nature. 



92 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


CHAPTER X. 

Going into Camp on the Evening of the second Day out from 
Denver—We pitch our Tents upon the Banks of the St. Vrain’s 
River—Precipitous Bank opposite—Fairy Land—Nature’s 
sweet Incantations—Unexpected Calamity—Our little Boy 
narrowly escapes Death—The Alarm—Consciousness re¬ 
stored—Eventful Night—Distress outside the Camp—Calls for 
professional Help—A Child supposed to by lying at the Point 
of Death—Unable to respond—The tedious Hours of Night 
slowly wear away—The Morning finds the Patient in 
Camp better—We make a hurried Start—Professional Aid 
rendered the sick Child at the Toll Gate—We dine at that 
Point—Elk Park—Ranches—Enterprises that engage the 
Mountaineer—Cottages—Built for the accommodation of 
Tourists—They can be secured with or without Board— 
Unique Groups—The Advantages they Afford—Portable Mills. 

Beside the fretting stream ; 

Below the mountain height ; 

Where sunset’s parting beam, 

Had kissed the earth good-night; 

We sought the boon of rest, 

Where care might not invade. 

Nor aught our dreams molest, 

In quiet grateful shade. 

"VVeary from the excitement of the day’s journey 
probably, more than from the fatigue consequent 
upon the long walks we had taken over the most 
rugged portions of the way, we went into camp, the 
second night after leaving Denver, on the bank of 
the St. Train’s River, several miles above the cross- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


03 


ing. Upon tlie opposite hank, a wall of red sand¬ 
stone arose, almost perpendicular in line, to the 
height of two hundred feet, against which the waters 
dashed with malicious fury, fretting themselves into 
white foam as they whirled and turned, and the pro¬ 
cession of waves impetuously rushed on to meet other 
barriers below. 

Between this river and a beautiful mountain, at the 
foot of the latter, we pitched our tents, where we 
could gather the broken harmonies of botli mountain 
and stream, and listen to the march of both wind and 
• wave—the long line of moving waters and the tune¬ 
ful strains of passing zephyrs, by whose wings we 
were fanned in their eager flights to the distant plains. 
It there seemed to us we had entered some bright 
fairy land, where the earth brought forth flowers by 
nature’s sweet incantations, and whe/e fays had spread 
their richest repast before mortals. The sun threw a 
golden halo around the tops of the towering peaks, as 
a good-night benediction, and the chill frost of night 
hung in the air, when we first welcomed the warmth 
and cheerful glow of our camp fire. 

Just at that moment we were alarmed by the cries 
of one of the children, as she shrieked, “ The mule! 
tiie mule !” 

On going to the place from which the cry pro¬ 
ceeded, our little boy was found, lying apparently 
lifeless, having been kicked by one of the mules, that 
had just before been turned loose from the wagon. 

We had seen our son, only a moment previous to 


94 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


the alarm, picking flowers for one of the smaller 
children ; and when we first heard the cry of distress, 
uttered by the child with him, we supposed it to have 
been prompted by some sudden emotion of fear, with¬ 
out any real cause for danger. The mule had been 
concealed from observation by a thicket ; and, when 
feeling least a sense of danger, it suddenly appeared 
and viciously kicked its unsuspecting victim, hitting 
him just below the diaphragm. Consciousness was 
soon restored ; and notwithstanding our apprehensions 
were at first grave and painful, the injury proved 
less serious in its results than symptoms would seem 
to have indicated. 

During that eventful night of unmitigated anxiety 
and distress, my husband was three times profession¬ 
ally called upon to visit the bedside of a patient, 
supposed to have been lying at the point of death, 
four miles beyond our camp. But at no time was it 
considered safe to leave the bedside of our own child 
long enough to respond to these calls. The long, 
tedious hours of that never-to-be-forgotten night at 
length wore away ; and when at daylight we found 
that the sufferer in our own camp could be moved 
with safety, we hurriedly proceeded on our way, anx¬ 
ious for the life of the sick child to which we have 
alluded, and for the relief of its then hopeless parents. 

W e reached that afflicted home as soon as was prac¬ 
ticable for a journey of four miles to be accomplished, 
over the rough road we were compelled to travel. 
There (at the toll gate), our whole party being de- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


95 


tamed, we built our camp tire, and remained until 
after dinner. 

At three o’clock r.M., the symptoms of the patient 
being considered better, we prepared to take leave. 
After resuming our seats in our vehicle (that had 
been christened the “ Mountain Schooner”), we 
made our way into Elk Park, which lay just beyond. 

This park is several miles in length ; and upon its 
diversified surface we found pastures, or meadow 
land, of native grass, upon which the elk come every 
winter to graze. Hence the name of the park. 
Antlers lay scattered about in great numbers (as they 
are shed each year by the elk, during the colder 
months), laying where they had fallen when cast. 
We also found groves of pine growing there in great 
luxuriance. 

We passed several ranches, which bore an appear¬ 
ance of tidiness and thrift, although their rugged sur¬ 
roundings were still without cultivation, save beside 
the newly finished cabin, and its adjacent lawn, there 
was sometimes seen a small vegetable garden, and, 
occasionally, a small “patch of potatoes.” But we 
missed the cultivated fields of grain, without which a 
country seems comparatively barren. Stock raising, 
dairying, hunting, trapping, fishing, and guiding 
tourists through the wilderness of mountains, consti¬ 
tute the chief emjdoyment of the mountaineer, out¬ 
side of the lumbering and mining enterprises. 

Some of the ranchmen, of late, have been experi¬ 
menting in building cheap cottages, with a view to 


96 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


renting tliem to tourists, either with or without board, 
during the summer season. From these they have 
realized fair profits. These cottages are built of pine 
logs, hewn so as to present four sides, and put to¬ 
gether after the usual style of building log houses. 
The crevices are then tilled up with pieces of timber, 
and plastered over with clay or mortar, after which 
they are covered with a roof, consisting of poles 
closely laid across the top, which in turn are covered 
with clay, or, in some instances, with boards or shin¬ 
gles, according to the convenience or financial ability 
of the proprietor. A floor is usually laid, a window 
put in, a door hung, a place fixed in the roof for a 
stove pipe, or a straight chimney built, when it is 
considered ready to rent. 

Some of the residences built on the same plan are 
at present being clapboarded, and lathed and plas¬ 
tered inside, and, in time, these cottages will doubt¬ 
less receive the same finish. If these temporary 
houses pay, as they now promise to do, it will not be 
long before the proprietors w T ill be able to afford a 
sufficient number of them to do away with the neces¬ 
sity of transients living in tents ; and also to furnish 
them fitted up with the necessary conveniences. 

These cottage homes are, in some respects, prefer¬ 
able to either boarding house or hotel, as a family can 
usually have their choice between housekeeping and 
boarding ; and, in choosing the latter, can have their 
meals served in their rooms, or at the general table at 
the ranch. Availing themselves of the retirement 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


97 


they afford, persons can also enjoy the quiet inciden¬ 
tal to real home life. These unique little groups of 
pioneer architecture are very picturesque in appear¬ 
ance, and are suggestive of rest and comfort. To 
the weary traveller, who, perhaps, has not been inside 
a house for many weeks, these miniature homes are 
always hailed with intense delight, and are regarded 
as the oasis upon their journey in that sparsely settled 
country. 

Portable mills are being introduced in many places, 
in the vicinity of which there is usually a better quality 
of buildings ; and as settlers have a very wide range 
of choice, they usually locate in those places which 
the tourist finds most desirable to visit. Hence the 
tent of the traveller may everywhere be seen, during 
the warm season, interspersed with cottages, or just 
outside these diminutive towns that occasionally dot 
the parks. 



98 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTER XI. 

Rattlesnakes—They are the Dread of Campers—Entering Mug¬ 
gins’ Gulch—Native Plants—Many of them Common to the 
more Eastern States—They decrease in Number of Varieties as 
Altitude increases—Pine Belt—Timber below—Flowers in the 
Regions of perpetual Snow—People sit upon Snow Banks to 
gather them—Columns of gray Sandstone—Their Origin—Natu¬ 
ral Masonry—A Legacy to Science—Continuous Changes 
through the Agency of Erasion—We Ride in Mountain 
Shades at Midday—Photograph Stones—Losing Sight of the 
Sandstones—Night comes on—We miss the Sunset View at the 
Entrance of the Park—And pitch our Tents for the Night—By 
a Mountain Stream fringed with Alders. 

There are no voiceless haunts ; 

No nooks unpeopled. Everywhere 
Some living thing a home hath found, 

Under God’s care. 

The great dread of all campers is the rattlesnake. 
These are said to he very numerous in Elk Park, and 
in Muggins’ Gulch, adjacent to and just beyond it. In 
passing down the mountain side into the gulch on 
leaving the park, we counted four of these dreaded 
enemies, lying dead by the wayside, their mutilated 
heads showing the intensity of the conflict successfully 
waged against them. While passing through the 
gulch, which was very dark and deep, we crossed 
several small streams, that became dry later in the 
season, when the snow, which supplied them with 
water, had all melted away from the elevations above. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


99 


Along the banks of these streams, growing native, 
were many species of plants, shrubs, and trees also 
native to the Eastern and Middle States. Among 
these were the wild pea (. Leguminacece ), several species 
of the asterworts (Composite), morning glory [Con- 
volvulacece ), wild parsnip and wild carrot ( Umbelif - 
era), alder (Betulaced), willow [Salicacea), crowfoot 
geraniums (. Ranunculacea ), wild lily, among which 
was a species of wild lily called the mountain lily, 
peculiar to that location [Liliacea), cherry, raspberry, 
blackberry, wild rose [Bosacece), ferns [Filices). I 
have made mention of comparatively few orders ; 
only such as memory serves me to recall. ¥e saw 
several species of these orders also that were quite 
new to us. Besides these there were many plants and 
shrubs that we had elsewhere cultivated as exotics. 
The flora there, at altitudes ranging from 5000 to 
6000 feet, latitude 40° to 42°, with few exceptions 
are the same species or closely allied to those of East¬ 
ern localities in the higher latitudes. AVe And in this 
comparison a good illustration of altitude compensat¬ 
ing for latitude, other things being equal. 

From the similarity of native plants, and their com¬ 
parative luxuriance of growth, we readily infer that 
there is a comparative amount of moisture and also 
some predominating elements of soil common to both 
locations, as their growth seemed equally vigorous in 
the two sections of country. Plants, like animals, 
cannot live without subsistence, and where the soil 
holds no food that can be assimilated by any certain 


100 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


plant, unless it be an aquatic or an air plant, it will 
die for want of proper nourishment. So when we find 
a species of vegetation growing in native luxuriance 
in one place, and find it existing in the same conditions 
elsewhere, we readily infer that there must be a sim- 
silarity of causes to produce it ; while to the dissim¬ 
ilarity of corresponding circumstances we owe the 
exceptions. All soil holds food for more than one 
tribe of plants ; yet wherein it lacks food for any 
individual class of plants, that class which would 
remain unfed must necessarily die in consequence. 

The number and variety of flowers become mate¬ 
rially less as we reach the long belt of pines which 
stretches itself the full length of the mountain range. 
This belt is found to exist in the altitudes between 
6000 and 9000 feet. Above this is the belt of spruce 
which reaches up to the height of 11,000 feet. 

The varieties of pine trees there have been estimated 
to the number of fifty or upward. We are not in¬ 
formed as to the number that have been observed of 
the spruce, which are also a branch of the family 
Pinus. Below the pine belt are found cedar, hem¬ 
lock, cherry, alder, and cotton-wood. The latter 
grows principally along the streams. Above the tim¬ 
ber line in the regions of perpetual snow, some. of 
the more hardy flowers find warmth to bloom. 

A guide, returning from Long’s Peak, brought 
with him a bouquet of which I became the fortunate 
possessor. In it was garden columbine (Aquilcgia 
vulgaris) luxuriant in growth, spiderwort ( Com - 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


101 


melynd ), wild everlasting ( Graphalium ), live-for¬ 
ever (Sedum telephium ), together with a variety of 
beautiful grasses. 

These were gathered in places from which the snow 
had been blown into drifts, which served as seats for 
the party at the time of gathering the flowers. I 
have given the names of but few of the flowers this 
rare bouquet contained ; and as I had not the oppor¬ 
tunity of inspecting the variety of bloom produced 
there during the different months of the season, it is 
impossible to arrive at any just conclusion as to the 
number and kind of species grown there. Those to 
which I have referred were obtained some time be¬ 
tween the first and middle of August. 

In our circuitous route we sometimes found our¬ 
selves surrounded on all sides with emerald slopes, 
whose bases were strewn with wild flowers, and whose 
summits were covered with native pine forests. In 
these sequestered nooks the threading streamlet was 
often hushed to its softest strains, and the sweet 
melody of nature’s voice rang down from the tuneful 
branches along the mountain heights, echoed on every 
side, where the harmonic strains of the human voice 
seldom joined in minstrelsy, and only occasionally 
broke upon the air ; and then to lend but transient 
effect. In passing through the deep gulches, which 
are unavoidable in reaching the higher ranges of the 
mountains, and which we would not avoid if we 
could, we were often shut in by elevations that some¬ 
times arose almost perpendicularly to the height of 


102 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


many hundred feet; when suddenly, on emerging, we 
found ourselves upon a restful plateau, or at the en¬ 
trance of a beautiful glade. At some points w T e 
could look back upon the plains which lay under a 
distant haze, far out reaching our capacity of sight, and 
which in turn again disappeared behind the interven¬ 
ing ranges. 

One of the most interesting features of the scenery 
it was our pleasure to observe was the columns of 
gray sandstone that arose to from fifty to two hundred 
feet in height. Composing these columns were bould¬ 
ers weighing many tons, piled, one above another, in 
an almost perpendicular line, between which were 
crevices, showing where veins of other rocky forma¬ 
tion had existed, uniting or seaming together the older 
rocks. Some of these large masses of sandstone, rest¬ 
ing at or near the tops of the columns, overhung 
the general outline, and seemed ready to be precipi¬ 
tated by the slightest force. Ilow could those im¬ 
mense rocks have been piled up ? was a question 
raised by some of the younger members of the party. 
Exactly like masonry ! ejaculated another. To the 
question the easiest and most natural solution is doubt¬ 
less the correct one : They were piled up by the same 
force that uplifted the mountains, and laid in their 
places by the same hand that laid the foundations of 
the earth. They were a part of the natural masonry 
that had sustained mountains, that now lay in scattered 
debris around their base. They are the monuments 
that time has left as a legacy to science, telling of 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


103 


mountains that liave grown old and passed away. 
They are the monumental ruins which not only hear 
evidence of what has been, hut tell the comparative 
age of what now is, and write the destiny of the sur¬ 
rounding heights. We were informed by a resident 
of the mountains, that, two years previous to our visit 
there, a rock weighing many tons had been dislodged 
from the top of a neighboring summit, and lodged at 
its base, during a violent storm. This event occurred 
in the vicinity of the toll gate, where the immense 
mass, that had been precipitated by the strength of 
the elements, was afterwards pointed out to us. 
These evidences of the changes constantly taking place 
through the erosion of the elements are everywhere 
to be found along the whole Rocky Mountain line, 
particularly the foothills or lower ranges. 

As we travelled further into the mountains, follow¬ 
ing the labyrinthian course of a thoroughfare laid out 
with every inconvenience, and under the most for¬ 
midable disadvantages, we found the gorges through 
which we passed becoming darker and deeper, and 
the slopes steeper and higher. Through the former 
we rode in the cool shades of the latter, "while viewing 
their summits, crowned with the glowing light and 
warmth of summer sunshine. 

Gradually we lost sight of the sandstone formations, 
which had become familiar to us. The only stone 
house that we saw north of Boulder was built of the 
old red sandstone close by the St. Train’s River, 
where a laminated strata of this rock lay exposed to 


104 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


view. We had in other places seen this rock yielding 
its warm glint of color at an elevation of 7000 feet, 
sometimes overlaying the granite, and again underly¬ 
ing the same. 

A prominent feature of these rocks is the impres¬ 
sions of trees, shrubs, etc., that occur upon their 
laminae. Slabs thus impressed are called photograph 
stones. These are said to be the most abundant in 
the Hog Back. 

Beyond and above, everywhere around, lay cold for¬ 
mations of granite—cold in color, cold by nature, and 
cold by reason of their location. With new in¬ 
terest we greeted the peculiar features of each moun¬ 
tain as we slowly advanced toward the park, until the 
warm glow that kissed the mountain sides into bloom, 
and their breath into fragrance, faded from their 
highest tips, leaving but the cold gray peaks, which 
sent a shivering chill into the valleys, reminding us 
that the day was about to close ; and that quite too 
soon for the realization of what the morning had 
promised. Our delay at the toll gate resulted in our 
disappointment of being able to witness the sunset at 
the entrance of Estes Park, as we had anticipated. 
Night came on, and we yielded to necessity rather 
than inclination, and pitched our tents by a quiet 
stream, fringed with alders, and there awaited the 
rising of the morning sun to call us to the duties and 
experiences of a new day. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


105 


CHAPTER XII. 

Leaving the Gulch—Walking Sticks ala Mode—On Foot—Camp¬ 
ers returning—Caricatures—Snowy Range—Mountain Jim’s 
Cabin—Mountain Jim—His tragic Death—The Cabin serves 
as a Monument to his Memory—Entering the Park—Tableau 
Vivant—Nature’s Repast—Lakes—Floating Fortunes—Speck¬ 
led Trout—Earl of Dunraven—Hotel—How Long’s Peak is 
reached—The Extent and Capacity of the Park—Theories as 
to the Origin of Parks—Light on the Subject. 

From nature’s chambers, dark and deep, 

We haste to climb the mountain steep. 

Leaving the gulch, we climbed over a succession of 
hills or small mountains. I here use the word climbed 
in its fullest sense, for I believe that seven out of eight, 
the whole number of our party, took each a cane d la 
mode , and performed that part of the journey on foot. 
We had but few miles further to travel before reach¬ 
ing the end of a long journey. We were but a short 
distance from the entrance to the park, and to this we 
were gradually ascending. The morning sun shone 
warm, and the air was crisp and clear. Now and 
then we met a party of campers on their return trip 
to the country below. Upon reaching the gate to the 
park, the highest point over which our way led, range 
after range of peaks greeted us ; some crowned with 
domes of solid granite ; some bearing the appearance 
of vast and magnificent ruins ; some resembling 
castles ; some piercing the clouds with their uplifted 


106 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


spires ; some presenting fantastic shapes which seemed 
real caricatures of birds, beasts, and human beings. 

Upon one summit sit the famous two owls, so dis¬ 
tinct in outline that no observing traveller passes 
them without recognition. Upon another is an im¬ 
mense rotunda, and still upon another the ruins of an 
old monastery. The mention of a few of these will 
suffice to show the interest that would naturally attach 
itself to the study and observation of the mountains 
from a perspective standpoint. 

The more distant heights were covered with per¬ 
petual snow, and veiled by soft tints of azure. From 
this point we counted five distinct ranges, which 
together exhibited sixty-five prominent summits, one 
of which was the famous Long’s Peak, having an 
altitude of 14,216 feet. 

Close by the gates to the park we discovered an 
open cabin. It was built of unhewn logs, and covered 
with earth. The door and window were gone, and 
the paths that once led to it were overgrown with 
bramble. We learned that this had once been the 
home of Mountain Jim, who, during his life, had 
been known as a trapper, hunter, fisherman, ranch¬ 
man, and guide ; as the man who once had a hand 
fight with a grizzly bear, and killed his ferocious 
enemy with a knife just in time to save his own life, 
with the providential care of friends, who found 
him bleeding to death from the wounds he had re¬ 
ceived. He was also known as the man who drank 
whiskey, and—finally fell in love. The latter was 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


107 


the most unfortunate circumstance of an eventful life, 
as it resulted in tragedy. 

The lady who had unconsciously won his affections 
rejected his suit. Her parents forbade him to visit 
their home. Enraged by the conflicting passions of 
love and of war, he taunted her friends, making use 
of vile epithets, until his conduct became unbearable. 
During an unguarded hour, when in a state of intox¬ 
ication, he indulged in visiting the home of the lady of 
his choice. Unpleasant words occurred between him 
and the young lady’s father, when, both becoming 
exasperated, the lover aimed his gun at the father, 
which he in turn thrust aside, at the same time tak¬ 
ing fatal aim at the would-be murderer. The victim 
of the tragedy lived several months after receiving his 
death-wound, having ample time to repent his folly. 

The desolate cabin still serves as a monument to his 
memory ; and, as it is pointed out to strangers, the 
thrilling events of his strange life and tragic death 
are related ; all of which have become historically 
associated with the park. 

We saw the lady whose name circumstances had so 
unfortunately and unfavorably associated with his. 
She is young, pretty, gentle, and retiring. She will 
doubtless live to grace a sphere in life more congenial 
to her better qualities. 

Two hours from the time we left our camp ground we 
had entered the beautiful fane of nature, whose walls 
were vast mountains and whose ceiling was a beautiful 
minaret of heaven, frescoed with systems of inhabited 


108 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


worlds. As we looked far away into the background of 
this picturesque landscape we saw cold fleecy clouds 
drifting up from behind the snow-capped summits, and 
felt their wintry chill, as they were driven nearer until 
they hung over us, dappling the foreground with their 
ever-changing shadows. 

Through this beautiful picture of nature flowed the 
clear, cool waters of the Big Thompson River, mir¬ 
roring both earth and sky. The undulating meadow 
land was flecked with tents, and the smoke arose from 
the camp fires on all sides. Cattle were leisurely 
grazing or lazily reposing, in every direction. 
Teams were picketed on camp grounds, and white- 
covered land schooners almost invariably lay anchored 
near by. In many instances the latter served every 
purpose of a tent. Campers were to be seen fishing 
along the stream, strolling at leisure, on duty about 
their tents, or sitting by their canrp fires. These 
•were the principal life figures in the scene, though 
the unpretentious home of the mountaineer was not 
left unobserved. Our eyes banqueted upon the beau¬ 
tiful prospect that greeted them. Could nature have 
spread a more inviting repast ? In this park are 
several small lakes of crystal clearness ; the principal 
ones are the St. Mary’s and Lily Lakes. There are 
also crystal rivers whose sparkling waters are fraught 
with floating fortunes of speckled trout. Two gentle¬ 
men residing there (sons of our landlord) went out on 
a piscatorial expedition, during our stay in camp, and 
brought in specimens of these fish, said to weigh two 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


109 


and a half pounds each, and to measure eighteen 
inches. Some were caught by members of our party 
and brought into camp, measuring fifteen inches. 
They are said to be taken from the streams very easily 
in winter. The gentlemen to whom we have referred 
remarked that, in their experience, they together had 
taken from the water, by opening the ice, over a thou¬ 
sand pounds in a single day. These they took to 
Denver, and sold them at twenty-five cents a 
pound. The trip could be performed by private con¬ 
veyance inside of four days, the proceeds of which 
would amount to over two hundred and fifty dollars. 

This isolated case, I think, will serve to sustain me 
in asserting that the waters of these parks are filled 
with shoals of floating treasure. 

The principal part of this park is the purchase of 
the Earl of Dunraven. By him it is being enclosed 
where nature has not already fenced it in by almost 
insurmountable walls. The earl has there erected a 
commodious hotel, with the available capacity of fifty 
rooms. This building is richly furnished, and is con¬ 
ducted in a manner to please its most fastidious pat¬ 
rons. It is managed by an efficient landlord, who 
looks well to the comfort of his guests. The site 
upon which it stands was selected with reference 
to the view of and distance from Long’s Peak. 
Tourists u making the summit” can avail themselves of 
the use of a vehicle the first few miles, from the hotel, 
if desirable ; after which they must consent to abandon 
it; for the only choice to within two miles of the 


110 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


peak is between going on horseback or on foot. 
The last two miles can only be accomplished on foot. 
The park is about ten miles in length and five miles 
in width. The grass is the same as that upon the 
plains, and is said to be sufficient in quantity to sup¬ 
ply four thousand head of cattle with a proper allow¬ 
ance of food during the year. 

This, like other parks, is irregular in outline. Its 
margin is closely studded with mountains, save where 
canyons here and there open out between. 

Having often been asked to define the word park, 
in its practical application to the landscapes of the 
mountains, and deeming it of some importance to the 
reader in aiding him to obtain a definite idea of what 
the word here is intended to convey, I would say that 
the term, in its original meaning, signifies pasture, 
and is here applied to the rich meadow land, enclosed 
on nearly all side by mountains, where wild animals 
once found pasturage (as they now do, in many places), 
and where settlers at present graze their vast herds of 
stock. These parks vary in size from the area of a 
few acres to those of many miles. Among the larger 
parks of Colorado now considered comparatively easy 
of access from the eastern slope of the “ Rockies,” aie 
North, Middle, and South Parks. 

North Park is comparatively little visited, save by 
adventurers or a minority of tourists. It is much 
colder than either of the other two, and contains but 
few settlers ; hence few inducements to invalids and 
to pleasure-seekers have as yet been presented. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


Ill 


Middle Park is accessible by stage from George¬ 
town, which is reached by rail. Berthoud Pass, over 
which this line passes, is 11,000 feet above sea level. 
The park is, at present, distingu^hed principally for its 
hot sulphur springs on the Grande Biver, which main¬ 
tain a temperature of 121° Fahr., and are regarded 
as having special curative properties for rheumatism 
and cutaneous diseases. It is lower and warmer than 
South Park. The soil is said to be favorable to the 
growth of cereal productions, and also to most garden 
vegetables. It is claimed that silver mines have been 
discovered there ; but, if so, none have yet been 
opened. It is little less than five years since the 
first settlers claimed a residence there ; and doubtless 
but for the Indian panic, the land would ere this all 
have been taken up. Wild game is still abundant 
among the surrounding mountains. The amount of 
mineral wealth already discovered in neighboring 
vicinities assures us in the prediction that the moun¬ 
tains around this park will develop their share of rich 
veins, and that the park may afford gold and silver 
from the wash of other sources. 

South Park has its salt works and its sulphur 
springs. Several railroads have been surveyed into it, 
all of which will doubtless be completed soon. Quite 
a number of settlements dot its borders. The Trinity 
City (of the future), Colorado Springs, Colorado City, 
and Manitou are situated near one of its gateways, as 
a citadel to the mountain’s stronghold. These places, 
so popular as resorts for both tourists and invalids, are 


112 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


already so well known as to require no mention. The 
South Platte takes its rise among the summits of its 
western boundary, and, winding through these fertile 
meadow lands, marks its course eastward on its journey 
to the far-oif Gulf of Mexico. 

South Park is evidently destined to be recognized 
as one of the most attractive places among the whole 
Rocky Mountain range. 

These parks are subject to every feature of land¬ 
scapes elsewhere found. It is supposed that they were 
once covered with water that has long since disap¬ 
peared, or by timber that has been destroyed by fires 
accidentally set. The argument would seem to be 
entirely in favor of the first supposition, as there are 
many acres that bear no trace of a forest having ex¬ 
isted there at any time since the carboniferous period ; 
while, on the other hand, the boulders give evidence 
of being water-worn, and in some places the land is still 
marsh. One of these marshes occurs in Estes Park, 
where the Big Thompson River divides its waters, and 
throws them around its surface, uniting them again 
below 



CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


113 


CHAPTEK XIII. 

Making the Summit—We accompany the Reader there, on an im¬ 
aginary Tour—Distance—Every Season of the Year represented 
—An unnatural Effort to breathe—Hunger—Attenuated Air— 
Its Effects upon Persons affected with nervous or pulmonary 
Diseases—Electrical Storms—Shocks—Nervous Fever—Natural 
Electrometers—First Glimpse of Day—A New Elysium—That 
Life is measured by heart beatings, a demonstrated Fact—Mo¬ 
mentary Delights—Five States and Territories contribute to the 
View—Poetry of Art—Scenography, Meteorological—Land 
Scenery—Lakelets bespangle the View—Threads of Silver— 
Above the Clouds—Ruins of Mountains—Mountain Slopes in 
Mosaic—The Morning in purple Robes—Unfinished Picture— 
Disappointments, Incidental—Storms—Seen from a picturesque 
Standpoint—Sunset reverses the Shadows—The Storm King— 
Above all that makes Earth Home—The Object of One’s Pil¬ 
grimage to the Summit— Adornings for the Palace of Memory 
—Time to leave—The Reign of Silence—Self lost in Sight. 

’Bove the plains, where leads life’s pathway, 

Lay the golden heights, sublime ; 

Resting, where the hidden glory 
Waits, to crown the end of time. 

To those who enjoy “ sight-seeing, ” the opportunity 
of “ making the summit,” and “ taking in the view,” 
is one to be coveted, although attended with discom¬ 
fort and inconvenience. To stand upon a pinnacle 
fourteen thousand feet above the sea, in a mid-ocean 
of air, while one’s feet press one of the rarest gems 
of the continental diadem, and where distance is lim¬ 
ited only by the capacity of vision, is a moment to 


114 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


enrich a lifetime. Looking down over a terrace of 
mountain ranges from Alpine heights far out upon 
the burning plain, observation reaches from frigid 
regions to tropical climes, and through the uplifted 
zones one sees every season of the year represented, 
each in its peculiar features and characteristic beauty. 

The peak is ascended from the south-west by way 
of Lily Lake. The distance is fifteen miles. Tour¬ 
ists usually arrange their visits so as to enjoy a sunrise 
or a sunset, though seldom both. Those who witness 
the sunrise perform part of the journey during the 
afternoon, rest at a ranch on the way at night, and 
arise in the morning in time to complete the tour be¬ 
fore daybreak. 

The first effort one usually makes on reaching the 
summit is an unnatural and an uneasy exertion to 
breathe. Succeeding in this, the next endeavor is to 
obtain something to satisfy the demands of the stom¬ 
ach ; as the fatigue of the ascent, and the crisp morn¬ 
ing air, combine to furnish one with a voracious ap¬ 
petite. 

Few are able to bear the attenuated atmosphere at 
such an elevation with impunity but a very short 
time. This usually forbids visitors to remain long 
enough to enjoy the waking light of the morning 
and the lingering farewell of the evening of the same 
day. 

The effect of the elevation upon one afflicted with 
pulmonary or nervous weaknesses is highly detrimen¬ 
tal, and forebodes serious and sometimes fatal conse- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


115 


quences. Not only are persons affected by tlie rare¬ 
fied conditions of the air, but by the electrical condi¬ 
tions also, which produce results of painful excita¬ 
bility. 

Those of highly susceptible nerves experience shocks 
which subject them to twitching, and all the painful 
symptoms that would be endured by being subjected 
to a heavy charge from a battery. I have witnessed 
these symptoms in nervous people at much lower alti¬ 
tudes, where a prolonged strain of the nervous system 
often resulted in nervous fever (a disease so common 
in the mountains, and one so naturally produced by 
local causes), which, in many cases, proves fatal. 
These symptoms occur in their severest forms and 
most disastrous tendencies during the electrical storms 
that prevail there. The presence of these storms is 
denoted by an electrometer. They are often unaccom¬ 
panied by descent of rain, hail, or snow, though the 
currents are sometimes so strong as to shiver the rocks 
in pieces, and produce other equally marked demon¬ 
strations. A good natural electrometer is the human 
hair, or that of the lower animals. The former, when 
curly, becomes straight and bushy, and the latter be¬ 
comes erect. 

The impressions made upon the emotions by a 
view so vast and so comprehensive, and from a height 
so stupendous and grand, is one never to be forgotten. 
When the soft azure veil of the sky is laid so lightly 
over all the landscape as to be almost imperceptible, 
and the first rays of the morning sun flash their flood of 


116 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


light through the clear transparent air, lighting up the 
chambers of earth with the glories of a new day, and 
one stands within the radiance of the halo of the 
morning, in the warmth of its glow and the beauty of 
its splendor, a new elysian is suddenly created, more 
enjoyable than the unpictured delights of ideal lands. 
The pulse leaps with a more joyous bound, and the 
life currents quicken their turbid flow ; while thought 
summons all its powers of action under the influence 
of the stimulus of this momentary revitalization. 
The perceptions are quickened by the sudden thrill 
of the reinvigorated life forces ; and, under the in¬ 
fluence of nature’s superior charms, life is not meas¬ 
ured by the days, the hours, the weeks, or the years, 
for their pleasures and capacities are concentrated in 
the enjoyments of a single moment. 'The sentimental 
idea that u life is measured by heart beatings,” is 
there physically and practically demonstrated. 

Even these delights are momentary, for there is no 
rest in the perpetual march of worlds. While one 
lingers upon the margin of day, the chariot of light 
moves on. The sun rises higher, while its beams 
silently descend and touch the mountain tops with 
their wand of enchantment, and transform them into 
figures of life. The trailing robes of darkness are 
gradually lifted from lakelet and stream, from valley 
and plain, from gulch and gorge, from canyon and 
park, from forest and foot hill, from city and plain, 
revealing a landscape sublime in its diversified extent 
and in its native grandeur. The view extends over 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


117 


tlie sunburnt plains of Utah, over the Spanish Peaks 
lying in the azure folds of their ether robes, into New 
Mexico on the south ; beyond the boundary lines of 
State into Nebraska and Wyoming on the north ; 
over the Pocky Mountain ranges on the west ; and 
over and adown the eastern slopes of their vast chains, 
out on to the great plains which no eye but that of 
Omnipotence hath bounded. 

To picture to one unacquainted with the surround¬ 
ing scenery what may be seen from Long’s Peak 
when circumstances favor the observer, would be 
practically impossible. Only in the poetry of art can 
skies be painted with ethereal loveliness, and the 
realms of cloudland be represented in their transcen¬ 
dent beauty ; while to place the landscape in array 
before the imagination of the reader would be to 
picture the lakes that bespangle the view on all the 
uplifted plains below, and to trace the threads of sil¬ 
very sheen which seam together vista and view, 
mountain and valley, earth and reflected skies ; to 
delineate, with native grace, the cold porphyritic 
heights that rear their summits above the regions of 
stratified cloud, and tip them with sunlight; to rep¬ 
resent forests laid low by the herculean force of the 
hurricane’s might, and the debris of mountains that 
have been rent asunder with the terrific anger of the 
earthquake, or the interminable action of the elements, 
and scattered at the base of every range ; to lay the 
mountain slopes with a mosaic of emerald and gray ; 
to restrain the winds upon one height and clothe an- 


118 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


other with tempest and storm ; to spread the fields 
with a tapestry of varied hue, and endow them with 
the animation of life ; to group the chaos of ruin with 
nature’s magnificence of art ; to bring hamlets and 
cities, lakes and streams, parks and plains, within the 
radius of human vision ; to lift up the waters and 
chain them to the skies ; to loop up the clouds in fes¬ 
toons of color, and tie them with the gorgeous hang¬ 
ings of the rainbow ; to clothe the morning in pur¬ 
ple, and place the signet of a star upon its brow ; to 
drape the car of light with golden splendor ; and to 
bring this wonderful work of art within the perspec¬ 
tive of the reader’s perceptions. Language would be 
inadequate to the requisitions of the parchment ; and 
no ideal range of finite conception could furnish a 
pallette for such a picture. The attempt to faintly 
shadow a true life-scene would be all that my rashest 
egotism would excuse. 

But it is not the good fortune of all who c1 make 
the summit” to enjoy the luxuriant repast that nature 
has spread out on all sides as a perpetual banquet. 
Sometimes clouds obscure the rising sun, and lay 
their deep and heavy shadows over the landscape be¬ 
low. Sometimes the descending storms, hundreds, 
even thousands of feet beneath, shroud both canyon 
and gorge with the darkness of night, and only the 
higher elevations rise above the mists to greet the 
light. Sometimes, even during the hottest days upon 
the plains, the clouds redeck the peaks with frostings 
and transparencies, while the unfettered winds pipe in 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


119 


subdued strains the harsh, shrill, piercing airs of 
winter. To this carnival of the elements, to this 
revelry of the storm, the tourist is often a victimized 
guest; from which he returns to regret his harvest of 
disappointment. 

Again the tourist stands under the softened light 
of transparent skies, while the lightnings send their 
flash through the turbulent billows that roll and surge 
at his feet, and the voice of the thunder alone is 
heard above the din of the storm. Here and there 
the sun lights up a freighted cloud-sliip of the ether 
sea, whose white masts glimmer for a moment and 
then disappear ; while the floating bark drifts on¬ 
ward, shattered and torn, or finds rest in open harbor. 
Beyond and below the outline of the storm-clouds 
the landscape is toned to its most serene aspect, and 
distance clothes itself with the habiliments of nature’s 
irresistible charms. 

Sunset holds the lights and shades in reverse order, 
while it uplifts the celestial robe of day—its gar¬ 
ment of sunbeams, whose rays of light, heat, and 
color are held intact through the magnetic agent of 
the electric ray—which night replaces with its neutral 
tinted vesture. 

Upon this mountain-top one sees the silvery lining 
of the Storm King’s robes, and the crystal adornings 
of his imperial throne. Over his kingdom the starry 
crown sends its evening light. Beyond it lie the 
unseen lands, whose inhabitants occasionally come 
and go, as in Jacob’s dream at Bethel. 


120 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


Above the din of social life ; above the sound of its 
busy pursuits ; above the soughs of the forests and 
their wild moanings ; above the music of the water’s 
solemn chant; above all that makes earth home—how 
deep must be the solitude of a tranquil hour ; and, 
left alone, how doubly lonely must be the person 
whose heart has not been taught to commune with 
self, with nature, and with God. 

But the object of one’s pilgrimage there is to get 
above the world and to look down upon it; to explore 
the regions of air, and fathom the atmosphere to a 
depth of over fourteen thousands of feet below ; and 
to take a more comprehensive view of the phenomena 
of the heavens. Unconsciously, one there becomes 
expanded, enlarged to receive all this length and 
breadth and depth of space. The eye strains itself to 
a capacity perhaps never before reached when the 
polemoscope of vision forces all this sublime picture 
upon the retina ; and the palace of memory was, per¬ 
haps, never adorned with so much grandeur as when 
this impression is transferred to its walls. 

But the sun moves on over the dial plate of the 
skies, tracing the rapidly receding hours. Its rays fall 
aslant. It is time to leave ; and the traveller, having 
accomplished the object of his pursuit, pauses not to 
listen to the far reaching sound of his own voice, nor 
to comprehend the awful silence that would reign in 
the absence of human footfalls, where only the roar of 
the storm is occasionally heard, or the wild fantasias 
of the hoarse winds are piped in the open halls of space. 


CAMPING IN COLON ADO. 


121 


During the time one spends there, self is so wholly 
lost in sight, that of all whom I have seen who have 
accomplished the tour, not one seemed to have been 
inqDressed with a sense of loneliness ; but, quite to 
the contrary, those who were not overtaken by sick¬ 
ness or storm were so absorbed in the pleasures of 
the hour, that no undue shadows were left to blemish 
the record of the adventure. 



122 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTER XIY. 

Transformation of a Planet—Twilight of an Era—The Destiny of 
Worlds known only to their Creator—God’s great Day’s Work 
done—Another Link in the Chain of the eternal Progression of 
Matter has been forged—The Evening Fires lighted—The Tele¬ 
scope of the Sun directed to its Planet Child—Heavenly Bodies 
marching to their Posts of Duty—Electrical Currents disturbed 
—The Axis of the Universe changing—Throes which give Birth 
to a new Era—Electric Wires stretched between and uniting all 
Worlds—Has Thought its more subtle Agent, by which it is 
transmitted ?—Dawn of the new Day—All is changed—Races 
have accomplished their Mission—They have been swept away— 
New Edens, and new Pairs—Creation wears its Crown Jewel— 
The Footsteps of Man seen by the new Morning Light—The 
new Day—The hour of Revolution past—The Stars sing a new 
Song—Nothing lost in Change—Nothing gained but Change. 

Oh, Change ! Time’s tireless agent! 

Busy, since ere the years began— 

Work on. Fulfil creation’s plan— 

Thou art a destiny to man. 

In musing upon the great changes that have been 
wrought upon and within the earth to bring the planet 
np to its present conditions, we imagine ourselves sit¬ 
ting in the twilight of an epoch’s decline. 

Ho human thought has ever visited the newly 
created star, whose destiny is known only to its Crea¬ 
tor. The omnipotent eye looks down upon it, and 
beholds the completion of the fifth of God’s great 
days’ works. The seas are flooded with the finny 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


123 


tribes of life. The leviathan, the monarch of the 
waters, sports in the expansive crystal chambers of 
the great deep, and the subjects of his domain do 
him homage. The dry land is replete with its re¬ 
productive fruits. 

Everything is finished in accordance with divine 
purposes and divine wisdom ; perfected as only God 
perfects his work. Nothing is lacking to fill each 
•niche in the creative plan. Every crystal is polished, 
and every leaf and tree is afresh with life. Animals 
roam at will upon all the untented fields. Birds on 
swift wings pierce the air, while they make it resonant 
with songs of joy. Everything in the animal economy 
is true to its instinctive perceptions. The unspoken 
prophecies of the era have all been fulfilled. The 
finite work of the infinite hand lays mapped out on 
all sides. A link in the chain of the eternal progres¬ 
sion of matter has been forged. 

The evening fires have been kindled, but their 
light is yet hidden away, under the crust of the 
planet. The torch has been lighted that is to ignite a 
star, but its flames are yet suppressed. Far down in 
the heated furnaces of the earth a crucible is being 
prepared in which the oldest rocks are to be dissolved. 
But all is not yet ready. 

The telescope of the sun is still directed to its planet 
child, whom it has so faithfully guided in its march 
onward and forward, lighting its trackless pathway 
through the mighty cycles. 

The heavenly bodies, whose agency is to be called 


124 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


into requisition during the eventful hour of the 
planet’s transformation, are all inarching to their 
posts of duty. The eye of heaven slowly closes, and 
darkness begins its reign. The atmosphere is sud¬ 
denly disturbed, lashed into sweeping tornadoes and 
giddy whirlwinds. The electrical currents try in vain 
to keep their courses. 

The great battery of the skies is agitated ! The 
poles of the planets seems changing ! The axis of the 
universe perchance is wandering from its accustomed 
place ! The earth is convulsed ! It is tossed by fire 
and tempest! A w T orld is aflame ! Its fires flash 
their light out upon eternal space. 

Chasms yawn, and devour huge forests, whose 
charred remains are entombed in the entrails of the 
earth, until man shall come forth and demand of the 
planet its hidden treasure. Craters open wide their 
mouths, while streams and lakes forsake their beds 
and run down hissing throats into fiery maws. 
The crust of the earth collapses, and molten masses 
spring to the surface above. 

Living creatures, munched by the jaws of death, 
go down into the bowels of the earth. Igneous rocks 
are belched forth from its feverish stomach. Here 
and there an island or a continent has been thrown 
up, and another has gone down, in the troubled 
waters. 

The mountains are tumbling, .falling. Their foun¬ 
dations are being riven and wrenched from under 
them, and they are being carried away in the general 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


125 


wake of ruin. The great basins of the globe are 
being overturned, and their contents find measure¬ 
ment in newly constructed vessels. The heavens are 
black with the fumes of a burning world. 

Are sister stars keeping careful record of the event ? 
Are the intelligent races of other planets uncon¬ 
sciously sending their dispatches over the invisible 
electric wires that lay stretched between and uniting 
all worlds, impelling them onward and forward as 
they perform their busy rounds, holding in keeping 
the polarity of the universe ? * Alas ! for what man 
might be were this true, compared with what he now 
must be content to remain. N o lighthouse along the 
vast shores of space will ever lend its gleam to such 
an era. The currents thus travelling through all the 
mighty distances, encircled and circumscribed only 
by the boundaries of matter, will never be caught up 
at their wayside stations, and made to subserve the 
purposes of the inhabitants of worlds, and the vehicle 
by which systems may be placed in communication 
with each other. 

The atlas of the skies points out no sea where ships 
may lay in open harbor, and signal the sailing craft 
around them. No cablegram ever reaches us from 
the far-off worlds without whose existence our own 

* Along the pathways of the skies, wherever a heavenly body 
sallies forth, upon its, to us, incomprehensible mission, there is 
marked a new electrical centre, whose radiating currents are 
connected or interwoven with those of every other heavenly 
body in space ; so that the whole universe undergoes change, 
whenever any of its particles suffer from disturbing causes. 


126 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


would perish. No electric messenger of thought, by 
us perceived, is dispatched on swift-winged flight 
from centre stars to worlds revolving around them, 
though all move on in harmony and concert of action. 
But mind may have its more subtle agents, all un¬ 
known to us, by which communication may be estab¬ 
lished, and thought be transmitted through the uni¬ 
verse, while all is focalized in the great soul sphere, 
of which God is the centre. 

The paroxysmal night of nature is at last wearing 
away. The morning star sheds its light in the east 
with undimmed lustre, and lifts the darkness from 
around the couch of earth. The storm of the ele¬ 
ments has ceased its rage. The planet has controlled 
its ire. Exhausted nature has at last found rest. In 
the now silent chambers of the earth death has had its 
triumph. The glittering orbs tread lightly around 
the bier of an era, while they pass in solemn procession 
the transformed pavilion on the star-tented back¬ 
ground of the skies. The clock of eternity rings out 
the hour of the departure of the creative period. No 
time has been lost upon its dial. 

In the paling of the coming dawn we begin to trace 
the outlines of the features of the new physical day. 
The landscape has all changed. The waterscape and 
the cloudscape, too, have changed. The earth has 
been transformed. A portion of its fluids has been 
held in a crucible of flame until converted into gases 
or crystallized into solids. Its solids have been dis¬ 
solved and their gases combined to produce new 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


127 


fluids, and, in turn, new solids. Gases liave entered 
into new relationship with other gases, and matter 
has been re-resolved and chemically united to form 
new compounds. 

The atmosphere is changed. It contains less vapor 
in proportion as the land surface has been increased, 
and the water, or evaporating surface, diminished ; 
and in proportion to increased crystallization, or solidi¬ 
fication of the earth, so have the amount and depth of 
the gases around it, producing or permeating the 
atmosphere, been modified. The quality is changed 
by new emanations from new compounds, and new 
proportions from the old. 

Races of both animals and plants have finished 
their period, and been swept away in the maelstrom 
of the struggling elements. The earth no longer 
produces food for them to subsist upon, and the air 
is devoid of the vitalizing elements essential to their 
existence. The world has no longer need of them, 
and it no longer offers them a congenial home. The 
conditions that gave and sustained life, to them, are 
destroyed. 

But these new fields must not remain tenantless. 
It is not in the economy of nature that it should be 
so. To compensate for loss, there must be gain, and 
nature, left to herself, is honest, while God, to her, is 
just; so spirit, the great parent of life, on one side, 
and matter on the other side, become a prolific source 
of new races. 

New Edens are created, and new pairs are created 


128 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


to inhabit them. New mountains lift up tlieir heads 
in rejoicing. New river systems thread the valleys 
and the mountain sides. New fauna impart animation 
to the fields, and new flora embellish them. Crea¬ 
tion, beautified and adorned, dons its crown jewel, in 
the prototype of Deity. New footprints are seen here 
and there by the light of the new morning, while 
man’s waking vision greets the kingdom of his reign. 
The hour of revolution is past. A new light gleams 
from out the mansion of the Creator, and its beams 
make radiant the new day. The earth is again vocal 
with praise, while the stars sing a new song. Noth¬ 
ing has been lost in all this great change. Nothing 
gained but change. The forces of the universe have 
all been sustained, and no world has lost any of its 
glory. 



CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


129 


CHAPTER XV. 

The Great Divide—Why so called—Its general Course—Its 
Extent—It constitutes the Crown of the Continent—Its min¬ 
eral Wealth—A Comparison—Average Altitude—Aggregate 
Length, in Colorado—Saw Mills along the Timber Line—Utiliz¬ 
ing the Forests—The Demands upon their Resources—Soil rich 
in mineral Composition—Grain raising not recommended—Hun¬ 
dreds of thousands of Cattle and Sheep find Pasturage—There 
is no Place more promising for dairying—Butter made there 
better than that from the best Eastern Dairies—Wild Oats and 
wild Grasses more than compensate for Timothy and the golden 
Pumpkin—Chief Obstacle in the Way of Dairying—The Moun¬ 
tains a source of Wealth to the low Lands. 

Bold, craggy heights ! that dare to stand, 

Both crown and throne, in freedom’s land. 

Snow draperied, ice crystal gemmed, 

Evergreen fringed, by torrents hemmed. 

Thy crests bright glitter, ’bove the storm, 

Fashioned in strange and varied form. 

Thy voice of thunder greets the sky ; 

While lightnings flash thine unseen eye. 

Tliou’rt nature’s monarch, holding sway. 

O’er continent. Reign, reign for aye. 

It was during such a revolutionary struggle of our 
planet, when the earth rent its robes in the anguisli of 
its despair, that mountains sprang from their burning 
depths in masses and broken chains, and the extensive 
mountain system, of which the Great Divide consti¬ 
tutes the highest and principal range, first had its 
existence. This chain is the line which divides the 


130 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


waters and determines the course of the streams, 
eastward into the great valley of the continent (the 
Mississippi Yalley), or westward adown the Pacific 
slopes through their long, tedious, and winding course 
into the Western sea. 

The general course of this range is north-west and 
south-east. Its average width is estimated at twenty 
miles, and its length at five hundred miles, when it 
is lost, only to he recovered under a new name. 

This range is productive of the richest treasures and 
the most sparkling gems that beautify and give value 
to the coronet of the Western continent. Among its 
distinguished summits are Pike’s Peak, Long’s Peak, 
Mount Lincoln, and the Spanish Peaks, which form 
the prominent settings in this beautiful adorning of 
nature. 

Constituting the principle sources of its diversified 
mineral wealth are quartz, mica, iron, lead, zinc, cop¬ 
per, silver, gold, and precious stones, locked away in 
its secret vaults, or glittering upon its many tipped 
crests. The lower ranges afford limestone and gypsum, 
and along the foot hills, and extending out upon the 
plains, rich deposits of coal yield an exhaustless abun¬ 
dance of fuel. During the past year, over three hun¬ 
dred thousand tons have been mined from these veins, 
the principal part of which has been consumed in the 
capacities of the railways and smelting works. 

The vein of the Star Coal Mine in Boulder County 
is seven feet thick. The coal is raised by a twenty - 
four horse-power double engine. The cost of the 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


131 


elevating works is estimated at about $15,000. Tlie 
Marshall Coal Vein, near Boulder, is from ten to 
fourteen feet thick. These works are provided with 
convenient railway facilities for shipping. The Golden 
Coal Mines lay along the Colorado Central Railroad. 
Coal Creek Mines, near Canyon City, are classed 
among the wealthiest of the State. Many other 
mines are being less extensively worked. Most of the 
coal at present shipped from the State is consumed 
in Kansas. 

The richest veins of gold yet discovered have been 
found between 7000 and 9000 feet above the sea, 
while the richest silver veins yet found have been dis¬ 
covered in considerably higher elevations. Prominent 
among those peaks constituting the Great Divide, 
which bears an acknowledged reputation for wealth in 
the latter, is Mount Lincoln. 

A belt of tellurium, rich in gold, twenty miles in 
length, and five miles in width, exists in Boulder 
County, which is classed among the richest discoveries 
of the State. The amount of gold and silver products 
in bullion and in ores for the past year, by a recent 
estimate, has been placed at between $9,000,000 and 
$ 10 , 000 , 000 . 

Iron and copper, though found in abundance, have 
fewer developed mines (though those of the latter 
yielded 900,000,000 pounds during 1878), and conse¬ 
quently bring a comparatively small income. Lead 
mines here rank with the richest of their kind in the 
world. 


132 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


Over sixty thousand mineral lodes are reported to 
have been discovered within the limits of the State 
(though comparatively few have yet been worked), 
and more promising discoveries are being made at 
present than in the past. 

Leadville is now the centre of attraction for for¬ 
tune-seekers. Excitement attending new discoveries 
of silver mines during the past six months has been in¬ 
tense, and some of the richest firms in the United 
States have recently made heavy investments in the 
mining enterprise of that location. Over two million 
pounds of base silver bullion are reported to have been 
shipped from these mines during a single month. 

There nature wears a crown glittering with almost 
every jewel. 

In design and general features, 

the beautiful and real 
Outvie the far sublime ideal. 

To gain some definite idea of this mammoth, rocky, 
inland structure, let us consider this range, the verte¬ 
bra of the great mountain system, attached to which, 
on either side, are long and successive ranges and 
groups of 4 mountains, approximating the vertebral 
chain in height, and reaching down to the foot hills, 
miles below, upon which this vast superstructure 
seems to rest, and we have gained some vague idea 
of proportion, though we still have little conception 
of its immensity, which the imagination, when given 
its broadest range of freedom, would lack boldness to 
delineate and capacity to comprehend. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


133 


The average altitude of the principal range or 
Divide has been estimated at 12,000 feet, the highest 
summits of which rise from 3000 to 5000 feet above 
the line of perpetual snow. The highest mountain 
(yet surveyed) is 14,296 feet above the level of the 
sea (Mount Lincoln). 

The aggregate length of this range, and its princi¬ 
pal spurs, in Colorado alone, is estimated at from ten 
to fifteen hundred miles. The intervening spaces 
constitute the parks, heretofore described, some of 
which present the most beautifully diversified land¬ 
scapes. 

Along the timber line saw-mills have been erected 
which furnish most of the timber used in Colorado. 
The largest, located at Larkspur (we were informed), 
turns out over 3,000,000 feet of lumber per annum, 
besides a large number of railroad ties and telegrajfii 
poles, and a great amount of cord wood. The lumber 
business there seems almost exhaustless, and one could 
hardly imagine how so many acres of forest could be 
utilized but for the possible demands of the mining 
enterprise upon its resources. 

These two branches of industry, together with that 
of cattle raising and dairying, are untold sources of 
wealth to a country otherwise comparatively barren 
and unproductive. But there can be no place in the 
world more promising for dairying than these parks 
of the mountains. I have eaten butter produced 
from the finest dairies of the East, which only ap¬ 
proximated, in deliciousness of flavor that made in 


134 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


the mountains. The wild grasses, with their sprink¬ 
ling of wild oats, more than compensate for the in¬ 
dispensable golden pumpkin and the necessary tim¬ 
othy upon which cattle are fed in the Eastern States, 
in producing sweet juicy beef and creamy milk. I 
once said to a friend, u I wish to say that I have seen 
cream a half inch thick taken from pans but little 
more than half full of milk ; but I will wait until you 
have visited some of those mountain ranches, and 
then I will not have to say it, for you will have seen 
itwhen a bystander remarked, “ Say it now ; I will 
corroborate it, for I just came from one of them.” 
The present obstacle to extensive dairying in many 
places in the mountains lies in the inconveniences 
for transportation. But the Divide is considered a 
natural dairying country. The aggregate production 
of cheese in Colorado alone, the past year, amounted to 
230,000 pounds. Butter is made in larger quantities, 
though dairying, like other branches of business in 
this new State, is now in an embryonic stage. 

The expense of dairying is greatly diminished by 
the use of water-power ; and as laborers there are 
comparatively scarce, and prices paid for work pro¬ 
portionately high, the facilities afforded by this nat¬ 
ural force being made available is not only a source 
of wealth to the dairyman, but also of convenience. 

It is estimated that $8,000,000 are invested in 
the cattle business, and $5,500,000 would represent 
the capital in stock in sheep-raising in Colorado. 
These pursuits are rapidly extending farther and 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


135 


farther into tlie mountains, where water is more 
abundant, and where stock is less exposed to the in¬ 
clemencies of the weather. 

Although the soil is rich in mineral fertilizers, 
obtained from the wash of the mountain sides, and 
also in vegetable mould, obtained from the decay of 
its own native productions for many decades, yet the 
high altitudes would not warrant an attempt to raise 
many of the staple articles of food. 

The fertility of the soil can scarcely be impaired 
by any demands likely to be made upon it, as the 
mountains will continue to be a source of wealth to 
the low lands until they are rocked to rest on the 
plains below, or riven from their foundations by the 
same agency that uplifted them from the vaults of 
the earth. 



136 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTER XYI. 

Cascade Park—Its Location—Surface Features of its Surround¬ 
ings—Roaring River—Cascades—Echo Grove—Water Nymphs 
in crystal Palaces—Fall River—Nature’s Minstrelsy—Restoring 
Cordials—Twin Lakelets—Mountain Jim’s Rock—Deserted 
Habitation—Recent Claims—The Park still without a human 
Tenant—New Claims and new Surveys—Hunter’s Ambuscades 
—Practical Chasseurs—We dine in this delightful Solitude—We 
there spend a Day—We visit the Cascade—We pluck wild Flow¬ 
ers in Echo Grove—We drink Water transformed from Rain¬ 
bows—Sunshine to a grateful Memory—We make our Way 
campward—Night comes on—The Moon arises in solemn 
Grandeur—Scenery by Moonlight—Fall River Canyon. 

There the high towering walls, by the eternal might upreared, 
Surpass, by far, the studied art of skilful hands ; 

And every nook, and shade and growing spire, 

Wake deathless thought, through inspiration 
From their source infinite. 

Adjacent to and on the north-east side of Estes, 
lays Cascade Park. This miniature park or parquette 
is situated near the snowy range, and consists of grove 
and meadow, lakelets and streams. It is surrounded 
by some of the most delightful mountain scenery that 
it was our good fortune to observe. Roaring River 
comes from its snowy source above ; its rapid current 
dashing over a rocky channel in its precipitous descent 
to the park. Leaping from the mountain side, just 
above, the waters come tumbling down, lashed into 
rainbows and foam, forming a beautiful cascade, from 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


137 


which, the park takes its name. Pursuing its course, 
it is, at times, almost lost to sight and sound, so deep 
are the abysses into which its waters are plunged, 
when it appears again below, unimpeded in its haste 
to join other streams. Large boulders conceal from 
view the caverned retreats of the mountain streams, 
and so deep are the chasms into which their waters 
sometimes rush, that a listener above hears only a 
subdued gurgle or a faint roaring for considerable dis¬ 
tances. The laughing music of the sportive waters 
of this river may be heard in their wildest glee, echo¬ 
ing through the grove that lines its margin upon 
either side, while it is yet mellowed by distance ; 
listening to which, one is irresistibly drawn to the 
spot where this tuneful hymn of nature is sung. 
Under the charm of its influence, it is easy to imagine 
the existence of water nymphs in coral chambers, 
crystal palaces, or hidden grottoes beneath, pouring 
forth liquid notes, timed to the graceful flow of 
the waters. A short distance below the cascade, 
Poaring Eiver unites with FallKiver, forming one of 
those large, clear, cool, limpid streams peculiar to the 
mountains. 

There is, perhaps, no place within the park where 
the ear is not continually greeted by the delightful 
harmonies of some sweet minstrel of nature. Sur¬ 
rounded by mountains as it is, one may at all times 
drink in seolian strains, borne hither from every con¬ 
ceivable angle, line, and direction of sound (within 
the limits of the park), producing a concert of the 


138 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


sweetest enchantment of song. The far-off mournful 
music of the grand old pines, that have withstood the 
storms of ages, some with shattered limb, singing 
with broken harp and trembling voice, others respond¬ 
ing to the graceful stroke that touches lightly their 
unawakened chords with unseen fingers, blending 
their more animated strains, in repeated reverbera¬ 
tions, with the rhythmic rehearsal of the sweetly 
solemn anthem of the waters, greets the ear of the ex¬ 
plorer, wherever his delighted footsteps roam. The 
perfumed breath of the mountains is freighted with 
medicating balms, and one there inhales the restora¬ 
tive cordials that reinvigorate the degenerate functions 
of life. 

Two twin lakelets (covering perhaps an acre of 
ground) repose side by side upon the bosom of earth, 
clad in robes of ethereal azure, or of crystal white, 
hushed by gentlest lullabies, or fretted into unrest by 
the wild overtures of the aroused elements. 

In this park is a boulder projecting on one side so 
that man or beast may find shelter and safety under¬ 
neath. Mountain Jim, of whom w T e have previously 
spoken, chose this as his place of refuge, while hunt¬ 
ing or fishing in its vicinity. The open side of this 
granite-roofed dwelling had been enclosed by the in¬ 
terwoven branches of trees, whose withered foliage 
still clung to their paternal source. The smoke of 
fires that had been kindled by this rock yet blackens 
and discolors its surface, and the temporary wall once 
built there now^liangs from the ceiling in broken ruins. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


139 


A deserted habitation, with its surroundings of ruin 
and decay, serves to remind the older inhabitants of, 
probably, the first resident of the park ; while the 
foundations of two other cabins showed that claims 
had since been made, though at the time of our visit 
there the place was without a human tenant. 

Other claims have since been made, the land sur¬ 
veyed, and it is now, doubtless, the possession of some 
fortunate capitalist. 

Here and there were hunters’ ambuscades, built of 
logs in open field. These structures were about four 
feet high, four feet wide, and six feet long. In them 
hunters conceal themselves while watching for moun¬ 
tain sheep, as they come down from their homes 
above to graze upon the more acceptable pasturage of 
these uncultivated meadows. 

When discovered, they become an almost sure mark 
for the practised sportsman’s aim, which is taken 
from the crevices between the logs, where the hand 
that levels the gun, under a well-directed eye, re¬ 
mains concealed. 

In this delightful solitude our party spent one day. 
We cooked our coffee and spread our edibles by 
“ Mountain Jim’s rock,” and dined in its umbrage. 
We visited the cascade, and drank of the waters 
transformed from its rainbows. We plucked wild 
flowers in the native grove of this shaded retreat, and 
traced the embankments of the streams and lakelets, 
while we breathed the sweet incense of nature’s offer¬ 
ing upon God’s holy altars. 


140 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


When the day began to fade we took a reluctant 
leave of that garden of the mountains, the associations 
of which afford a bright gleam of sunshine to a grate¬ 
ful memory, making our way back to camp. Night 
came on and darkness clothed all the valleys, while 
twilight lingered for a time before retiring from the 
mountains. The moon arose above the solemn grandeur 
of the landscape and drew deep, dark, weird shadow 
pictures of summits resting against the slopes of other 
summits, or hanging over the intervening valleys, 
constituting a panorama unequalled by the hand of art. 

Yiewing the mountains by moonlight affords a most 
fascinating pleasure ; and no tourists should allow 
themselves to miss an excursion when 

Fair Luna sheds its softest beams 
O’er mountain height, and vale and streams. 

Fall Kiver Canyon, laying between Cascade and 
Estes Parks, affords one of the most delightful places 
in the mountains for a drive during the silent evening 1 
hours. Its scenery, always delightful, is then doubly 
compensating. 



CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


141 


CHAPTER XVII. 

Our Camp Ground—Song Current of the Big Thompson—Its 
Strains blend with the Soughs of the Mountain Pines—Lawn 
Decorations—Its grassy Carpet enameled with Flowers—Hem¬ 
med in by Mountains—Cottages in the Foreground—Camps and 
Campers—Camp Furniture—Much of it a Provision of Nature 
—Man’s Necessities, when compared with his Desires—How we 
spent our Time, while in Camp—Piscatorial Amusements— 
Buffalo Gnats—They follow in the Wake of our retreating 
Footsteps—Not all Places infested by them—Sports of the Chase 
—A serious Warning to expectant Nimrods—Scenes from real 
Life—Conveyance tendered us—Mails—Reading Matter. 

Oh, swift winged time, our burdens bear afar ; 

And, with our pleasures, let thy flight be stayed. 

On a beautiful eminence of ground in Willow 
Park, an arm of Estes Park, on tbe west side, at an 
altitude of about eight thousand feet, our party 
pitched their tents, where we remained just one 
month. At the foot of the hill the Big Thompson 
swept by, its song current blending its strains with 
the soughs of the pines, as they came echoing down 
from the heights around us. Our uncultivated lawn 
was picturesquely decorated with shade trees, of na¬ 
tive growth, huge boulders, and elk horns. Cacti, 
wild everlasting, mountain *lily, mountain daisy, and 
sage brash, embellished the rich carpet of buffalo 
grass spread out upon our grounds. On all sides, 


142 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


save that by which the park is entered, were moun¬ 
tains, alternating with ravines, constituting a most 
romantic prospect. At the foot of the hill on the 
east was a group of cottages, ever suggestive of the 
pleasures of home life ; and, promiscuously scattered, 
were the tents and canvas-covered wagons, dotting 
the camp grounds of transients. The former were 
often pitched at night and taken down in the morn¬ 
ing, while their tenants moved on to visit other points 
of interest. 

The place selected for our kitchen was furnished 
with boulders, promiscuously arranged, without seem¬ 
ing reference to the uses to which they were, in the 
events of time, to he appropriated. There was one 
about four feet high, against which our fire was built 
whenever there was cooking to be done. The partic¬ 
ular side of the rock upon which the fire was kindled 
depended upon the direction of the wind at the time 
it was built. 

Near this boulder was a tree, into which nails were 
driven, where our cooking utensils were hung. Close 
by was another boulder which answered the purpose 
of a kitchen table. Availing ourselves of these nat¬ 
ural conveniences, together with the use of a trunk 
containing our canned goods, we prepared the food 
for our little camp. 

Our dining room consisted of a small arbor of pine 
trees, on one side of which was stretched a tent fly. 
Our table was constructed after the fashion of a 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


143 


kitchen table, supported by a frame-work of cross 
pieces. On either side was a bench measuring the 
entire length of the table, which not only served to 
furnish us with seats during our meals, but also at 
our camp fires. 

The cabinet work was done by the gentlemen of 
our party, whose professional labors would, doubtless, 
have prohibited so fair a development of their me¬ 
chanical skill but for the urgent demand of this, or 
a similar occasion, to exercise it. 

Our side-board, washstand, ottomans, tetes, etc., 
were of solid mountain granite, hewn out by nature’s 
artistic hand ; though, from an occasional want of 
adaptability, we sometimes feared we had perverted 
their uses. 

Our indoor life was limited to two tents, each oc¬ 
cupied by four tenants. Living in this limited 
capacity but for a short time only, taught us how 
few were man’s real necessities when compared with 
his desires. 

“ How was your time spent while in camp ?” is a 
question often asked ; so I will anticipate and answer 
it. We had our hours of restful leisure, our hours for 
recreation, our hours for reading, and our hours for 
social enjoyment. We had also our days for excur¬ 
sions. 

The principal pleasure of a purely recreative char¬ 
acter in which all could participate was that of trout 
fishing. We had ample opportunity to indulge in 


144 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


this sport, though one circumstance made it objec¬ 
tionable. 

No sooner was our descent made to the stream than 
we were attacked by an innumerable and irresistible 
army of buffalo gnats, that were en bivouac upon a 
bog which lay between the two arms that united be¬ 
low, forming the main body of the river. 

These gnats are about twice as large as a mosquito. 
They have shorter limbs and more murderous bills, 
the latter of which tliey r dip deep into the flesh of 
their prey. They draw blood without pain to their 
victim, and never give warning of their approach. 
The wound they produce is of a dark purple color, 
deeply underlying the skin, and is of a very poisonous 
nature, bleeding profusely at first, and afterwards 
swelling, and itching with painful intensity. I have 
seen the gentlemen of our party return to camp from 
one of their piscatorial excursions, their visages so 
covered with patches of blood as to elicit the sympa¬ 
thy of any (unhardened) observer. A few hours later 
their faces would become so swollen as to almost 
close their eyes. 

(I might with propriety add, that it was only a lack 
of perseverance on our part that saved us from the 
same dilemma.) These wounds are several days in 
healing ; and when one is badly bitten the poison ab¬ 
sorbed from them into the blood results in sickness 
of a somewhat serious character. These insects some¬ 
times visited our camp in swarms, and were a source 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


145 


of great annoyance. Not all locations were infested 
with these obnoxious pests ; only such as were within 
the vicinity of damp or wet places. For the benefit 
of those who may hereafter follow in our footsteps 
and be similarly victimized, I here give a receipt, 
hoping thereby to save them the painful annoyances 
we experienced. 

Take of glycerine, four fluid ounces ; to which add 
the same amount of lavender or rosemary water ; also 
twenty drops each of carbolic acid and tincture oi 
camphor. This must be obtained before going into 
the mountains, as it cannot be gotten there. Eubbing 
the flesh with bacon rinds, or with coal oil, is some¬ 
times resorted to as a means of defence against these 
insects. Which is worst, the bite or the preventive, 
I leave the victim to judge. 

The sports of the chase, pour jpasser le temps , was 
another favorite amusement with the gentlemen, 
though unavoidable circumstances robbed this pleasure 
of much of its charm. There was comparatively 
little satisfaction to a chasseur in taking aim at an 
object where distance was so deceiving as to almost 
insure failure. A circumstance illustrating the ex¬ 
perience of two gentlemen known to our party, and 
supposed to be taken from Scenes in Eeal Life, might 
be here appropriately and impressively rendered. 1 
have made note of it as a serious warning to expectant 
Nimrods who may be tempted to exercise their skill 
under like circumstances. 


146 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


ACT I. 

SCENE I. 

Willow Park. Two gentlemen start out (with a revolver concealed) 
for 'pleasure. 

D. D. Tlie sun has risen high, and pelts me with its hissing ray. 
Let’s to the woods away ; and umbrage find ; 

In forest cool; and rest, and peace of mind : 

Happiness—where never dare. 

To follow us, the shades of care. 

M. D. In this we are agreed. 

My thoughts you’ve spoken well. What need 
Have we that unto pleasure tends ? 

Our way, by purling stream, that wends 
Through channel deep and wide, shall lay. 

My pouch for game ! We’ll not delay. 

D. D. I wonder what of game we here may chance to find ! 
Perhaps a buzzard, grouse, a bear, a roe, or hind. 

M. D. By thy sure hand (the weapon mine) an Actaeon shall 
fall ! 

Pierced, in its fleetness, by a spent misshapen ball. 

(Placing his hand upon his side pocket.) Exit to the forest. 

ACT II. 

SCENE I. 

Enter two gentlemen. They espy a grouse sitting upon the limb of 
a pine tree. 

M. D. Here, take this pistol; for, in valiant chase. 

Thy fame and skill, by far, excellest mine. 

D. D. If so ’tis best the trial I should make, 

I will accept. (Our dinner may be here at stake.) 

M. D. Take fatal aim. (Aside.) 

From hence our larder shall be stored, 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


147 


With viands fresh. No more, for sharpened appetites, shall we 
our bacon hoard. 

D. D. {Takes aim; and, missing his mark , returns the weapon.) 
Take back. The weapon, or my eye, deceives. 

Whichever it may be, I wish thee luck ; 

But, if it fail thee, I will try again. 

M. D. {Taking the pistol.) 

My skill I scarce need try 
When thine dost fail. 

Howe’er, my chance I’ll take. 

I once was skilled, and well could vie 
With any Nimrod. {Draws.) 

By this hand —{Taking aim, he fires, when he, too, misses the mark. 

He repeats the shot , but misses again.) 

{Soliloquizing.) Not all who’re tempted fall. 

{Hands back the pistol.) 

D. D. {Intent upon bringing down the bird, that still sits where it 
was first discovered .) 

Hero of many scars, whose marks of glory others bear ; 
Thirsting, from habit, for fresh wound, where blood doth flow, 
I’d rather, far, the honor should be thine. 

{Fires; but missing the first shot, fires again. Grouse looks 
askance.) 

Take back thine instrument of death, 

I charge thee ; for I would not rob thee of the fame 
We could not share. {Thepistol is again returned.) 

31. D. Two times two rounds we each will fire ; 

If so, e’er that, the bird doth not expire. 

{Fires two more shots. Grouse blinks one eye.) 

D. D. {Shoots twice more. Grouse has a twinkle in each eye.) 

31. D. ( Fires * taking double aim, and then repeats the same again. 
Grouse scratches his beak. Gentlemen retire for council.) 

SCENE II. 

Enter Gentlemen. 

31. D. Eememberest thou a fable often told. 

At fireside and at school—printed in books of old ? 


148 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


How, once a boy had climbed an apple tree, 

And would not down, when bidden ; “ no, not he l” 

Kind words defied, and laughed at gentle mean ; 

When stones were tried—why, you the moral glean. 

D. D. Here are the missiles. 

Let us have a round of three ; 

And know, in this case, what their virtue yet may be. 

(They throw three rocks each at their prey. Grouse cackles once , 
which, being interpreted, reads: Harp on that strain again ; 
and then a vociferous bird laugh rang out, echoed by all the 
neighbonng mountains, which the attenuated atmosphere ren¬ 
dered distinctly audible to the sportsmen.) 

M. D. In judging distance, though we err, would it be 
strange ? 

That bird may yet be many miles beyond our range. 

(Vanquished sportsmen take leave; while the bird, accustomed to 
measuring distances in its native flights, still remained, satisfied 
with the security of its situation.) 

To better facilitate our opportunities for viewing 
the prospects of the mountains, we were tendered the 
free use of a saddle horse, and a span of carriage 
horses, carriage, and every appurtenance to constitute 
a luxurious outfit for a drive. We were also kindly 
tendered conveyance to some of the most desirable 
parts of the park by private parties. 

For reading matter we could depend upon what¬ 
ever the mails might bring us three times a week ; 
aside from which we availed ourselves of whatever 
books we had taken with us. But our leisure was de¬ 
voted more to observation than to reading, as we were 
never without objects of interest to contemplate. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


149 


CIIAPTEK XYIII. 


Social Customs—External Appearances often deceiving—Brother 
shakes Hands with Brother—Residents—Manner of travelling— 
A Party from the “ Heart of the Mountains”—“ Hale and 
hearty”—The Tourist may observe much in little Time—Persons 
in search of Rest—The Adventurer—The Explorer—The Poet— 
The Minstrel—The Artist—The Chemist—The Geologist—The 
Divine—The Statesman—History in Nature—Worth a Voyage 
around the World—What might have been—Hieroglyphs : or 
Language of the Creator. 

We borrow from an ancient day 
Customs that else had passed away ; 

Leaving the homes of studied art, 

To rest on nature’s throbbing heart. 

Social customs in camp life are purely oriental. 
The stranger pauses before your tent, and you go out 
to greet him. A friend is announced, and welcomed 
at the open door of your pavillion. The latter is 
always invited to eat bread with you ; and, if near 
your meal time, the stranger too has claims upon your 
hospitality. 

It is a place where one cannot judge of whom he 
meets by external appearances. In this respect camp 
life admits of unconventional freedom. I heard a 
celebrated divine say that he was compelled to go 
from camp in a suit of clothes that had been patched 
with a portion of his gum blanket; and, coming 
nearer home, I am compelled to acknowledge the ac- 


150 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


quaintance of a lady who went from camp into Den¬ 
ver wearing shoes that had been mended with shoe 
tongues, the work having been done with her own 
hands. 

The unostentatiousness of society, in dress as well as 
manners, as it comes together from almost every city 
and hamlet, made up principally of the best talent and 
most refined intellects, is one of its greatest triumphs. 
Its pharisaical robes are laid aside, while for a time 
brother clasps hands with brother with untrammelled 
freedom. 

Residents are usually very socially inclined. They 
lose no time in making the acquaintance of those who 
camp near by, and seem ready to do all in their power 
to make the temporary stay of the stranger pleasant. 
They avail themselves of the talent of some speaker 
who may chance to be near by, and in turn open their 
homes for sacred worship and invite all within their 
reach to join with them in their devotions. 

In their travels some tourists provide themselves 
with teams, or ponies, and travel (usually in parties) 
accompanied by a guide, resting only by night, until 
the intended trip is accomplished. Sometimes they 
visit places where the journey is only practicable on 
mule-back, when pack mules are used by the party to 
carry tents and provisions. A large party of gentle¬ 
men of fortune and leisure from Philadelphia, Pa., 
once passed our camp on their return from such a 
trip, after having been six weeks “ in the heart of the 
mountains.” They all looked well, seemed cheerful, 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


151 


and claimed to be “ bale and hearty.” Their black¬ 
ened and sunburned faces told plainly that as pioneer 
soldiers they had seen service, while their robust ap¬ 
pearance was convincing evidence that they had 
braved dangers well. Travelling in this hurried way 
the tourist observes much in little time, none of which 
need be lost to memory if notes are carefully taken 
and preserved. Persons who go to the mountains for 
rest, usually seek some attractive seclusion, where they 
quietly remain until the active duties of life call them 
forth. 

Among those with whom we met, as transients, 
were persons emaciated with care and close indoor 
confinement, in quest of health and recreation. The 
adventurer was also there, satiating himself with new 
incident, and in quest of new fields of enjoyment. 
The explorer was there, urging his way into the 
mountains beyond, in quest of some unvisited nook or 
some pinnacle which the footsteps of man had not 
pressed. 

In these beautiful retreats the poet finds sentiment 
for verse and the minstrel finds joy for song. The 
artist finds the broadest range of the most sublime 
subjects for his canvas ; and the student finds volumes 
for scientific research that are nowhere reproduced. 
The chemist there finds the crucible in which every 
mineral constituent has been dissolved. The geolo¬ 
gist finds nature’s cabinet filled with gems of unknown 
value and untold variety and number.. The divine 


152 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


finds inspiration in mountains and sermons in stones. 
The statesman finds tlie statutes of universal law 
written by the great Law-giver. 

The world’s history lies piled up mountains high, 
in which its formations and transformations are* faith¬ 
fully illustrated ; where they can almost be analyzed 
and re-resolved. 

In whatever direction one turns, or upon whatever 
one fixes his attention, his observation is repaid by the 
enjoyments of new interests and their consequent 
pleasures. 

If it was worth a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean 
(before steamships were called into use) to see the 
Blue Bidge Mountains, it is worth a journey around 
the world to see the Rocky Mountains. Bature’s pages 
are nowhere more picturesquely illustrated or more 
divinely beautiful. Had the footsteps of man first 
have been imprinted upon the Western continent, 
Mount Lincoln (the highest peak of the Bocky Moun¬ 
tain chain) might have been the Ararat for the ark 
to have rested upon after the Flood ; and Pike’s or 
Long’s Peak might have been the Sinai around 
which the literal associations of divine history would 
have been interwoven in the chain of sacred events ; 
while upon some other inspired height Christ’s sermon 
would have been preached. 

But God instead has here proclaimed himself by 
writing his name in the hieroglyphs of vast wilder¬ 
nesses, vast lakes, vast plains, vast valleys, and stu- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO 


153 


pendous mountains. Through these man looks from 
nature up to nature’s God, when he is irresistibly 
drawn from the love of the world to the love of the 
Creator, through these expressions of divine power, 
divine beneiicence, divine wisdom, and divine glory. 



154 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

Evening—Camp Fire—Convenient Abundance of Fuel—Light and 
Warmth—Social Pastimes the Order of the Hour—Beautiful 
Starlight—Blistering Sun Rays at Midday, and Frosts at Night— 
Provisions necessary to meet the two Extremes—Camp Sup¬ 
plies—They may be obtained West of the Plains—It is cheaper 
than to transport them there—California Fruits—Fresh Vegeta¬ 
bles from native Gardens—Camper’s Outfit—Luxuries of Camp 
Life—Rents—Fresh Fruits not subject to rapid Change—Meats 
dry without perceptible Decomposition in Midsummer—Pastry 
soon becomes dry and unfit for use—Costumes—Hints given 
from personal Experience—Romance of Camp Life—Its Incon¬ 
veniences and its Compensations. 

When night came on, and down the mountain sides 
The cold air crept, full seven feet high we built, 

Of pine, our crackling fires. 

About four o’clock in tlio afternoon, tlie sun 
dropped out of sight behind the western mountains, 
and was lost to us for the night. The chill and frosty 
air, sweeping down from the snowy ranges, then re¬ 
minded us that it was time to don our water-proofs 
and build our evening camp fires. We availed our¬ 
selves of the convenient abundance of dry pine logs 
and boughs that lay scattered near by, with which to 
supply our camp with fuel. A huge pile of this 
debris was stacked up and lighted each evening ; and 
as the day dropped over us the star-gemmed curtain 
of night, our little group assembled around this our 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


155 


camp fire (which afforded us both light and warmth) 
for the usual social pastimes of that hour. 

In clear evenings the starry world sent forth their 
rays through the light, thin, dry column of air, with 
almost unobstructed splendor. The altitudes usually 
sought by tourists are visited nightly by frosts ; and 
the sudden change of temperature, from the burning 
rays of the sun, as they shone down through the thin 
dry atmosphere of a midsummer day, to the chill of 
evening, renders it necessary that campers provide 
themselves with changes of winter clothing and an 
amount of bedding sufficient for winter nights. A 
mattress and pillows may be made by filling ticks 
with wild grass.; or what is better for a bed is a 
good buffalo robe. An oil blanket or a piece of car¬ 
pet may be spread upon the ground underneath, as a 
protection to bedding, and a carpet may also be used 
to embellish the tent. Camp supplies of all kinds 
may be obtained in Denver for about the same prices 
as east of the plains. Fruits of the dairy may be got¬ 
ten from ranches in the mountains. Canned goods 
and vegetables of excellent quality may be purchased 
from markets west of the plains, where the stock of 
fruits is y>rincipally of those grown in California, and 
w r here vegetables are fresh from native gardens. 

A small wood stove, or a bake kettle, is almost an 
indispensable convenience to the camp. For table 
use an oilcloth and tinware are 4 usually called into 
requisition, while a nest of camp kettles is necessary 
for general use. A list of supplies, sufficient for a 


15G 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


party of four persons, for one month, in the line 
of edibles, is here appended, by special request, for 
the benefit of those who contemplate visiting the 
mountains. The variety can be changed to suit the 
relish of the consumer, selecting such food as would 
be most desirable for the parties during the winter 
months : 2 dozen cans (2 lb.) corn ; 1 dozen cans 
beef ; 1 dozen cans Boston baked beans ; half dozen 
cans tomatoes ; 1 dozen cans cove oysters ; 2 cans 
baking powder ; 1 dozen boxes sardines ; 1 lb. tea ; 
6 lbs. (ground) coffee ; 20 lbs. sugar ; 1 lb. soda ; 50 
lbs. flour ; 1 ham ; 1 side breakfast bacon ; 10 lbs, 
corn meal; 10 lbs. crackers ; 1 box mixed cookies ; 1 
gallon coal oil ; 1 quart of vinegar ; 1 lantern lamp. 

We obtained the best of butter at the ranch where 
we stopped, for thirty cents a pound ; milk at twenty 
cents per gallon ; ice cream (genuine) at fifty cents 
per quart ; and buttermilk without money or price. 

Cottages rent at from four to eight dollars per 
month, according to their size and quality ; also the 
length of time occupied. When rented for a season, 
they are obtained for a less price than when a tenant 
remains but a few days or weeks. Tents are often rated 
as high as cottages, in addition to which is the expense 
of transportation. But the latter cannot always be 
made available, unless the parties desiring them 
arrange for them in advance. 

The luxuries of camp life are a pony and saddle, a 
tent carpet, camp stools or chairs, and such articles of 
tent decorations as may be readily packed in a trunk. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


157 


The luxuries derived from the available resources of 
the country are game, fish, and, in some places, ber¬ 
ries. The latter grow upon slopes that have been 
burned over, and are obtained with great fatigue and 
inconvenience. Most of the streams are supplied 
with fish, which, when obtained in excess of the de¬ 
mand, may be put up in vinegar, or seasoned to the 
taste, and strung and hung in the sun to dry for future 
use. The latter experiment we tried successfully. 
Notwithstanding the heat of the sun, they w r ere pre¬ 
served without perceptible decomposition. 

In that dry atmosphere canned fruits would remain 
opeli several days without apparent change, while it 
was necessary to bake fresh bread every day. A few 
minutes’ exposure of light bread to the open air would 
render it so dry as to be unfit for use. 

The costumes of ladies who intend to indulge in 
pedestrian exercises should be made to fall just above 
the instep, and should be accompanied with heavy 
gloves, heavy shoes, and a broad brim hat. 

The foregoing hints to campers have not been given 
without knowing their value from personal experience. 
That the camp offers a practical illustration of romance 
in real life is true ; but much of its enchantment is 
borrowed from the distance in which it is viewed. It 
is certainly novel to one unaccustomed to it; and, like 
the written romance of modem literature, it has its 
lights and its shadows, its pleasures and its incon¬ 
veniences, its demands and its sacrifices, for which it 
offers its compensations. 


158 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTER XX. 

The Mountain Tramp—A prominent Feature of our Camp Ground 
—Ground Squirrels—A Colony—Subterranean Town—Commu¬ 
nication with the World above—Investigating the Town—The 
Result—Pastimes of these Rodents—They are easily domesti¬ 
cated—They served us as Scavengers—We were obliged to de¬ 
fend ourselves against their ravages—They burglarize our Tents 
—Our Juveniles trap them—Other nocturnal Guests—Canines 
investigate our Larder—Our Supplies begin to disappear—The 
Gentlemen assume the role of Detectives—They make a Discov¬ 
ery-Stolen Articles identified—Offenders put under surveil¬ 
lance—They prove their own Guilt—Culprits go unpunished— 
Their Instinct (?) admired—It is so near akin to human Reason 
—Our loss—Weighed in a Balance with our Necessities—Wild 
Animals—The success of the chase still a financial considera¬ 
tion. 


The mountain tramps travel on fours; 

And take without “ Sir, with your leave ?” 

They come by stealth, where no barred doors 
Forbid them enter. 

One of the prominent features of our camp ground 
was its great number of subterannean tenants. A 
colony of ground squirrels bad previously taken pos¬ 
session of the premises, and carefully laid out and 
built their town within its precincts. The ground 
was literally perforated by them, where they had 
opened communication with the inhabitants of the 
world above. "We examined their retreats as best we 
could with no implements for removing the earth that 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


159 


covered them, and found that several entrances from 
above ground communicated with each street. We 
also ascertained that their streets were not always 
level, but seemed to partake of the general features 
of the land above, along their line. This we ascer¬ 
tained by pouring water into some of the open gate¬ 
ways that led to their thoroughfares ; and observed 
that, when this innovation was made upon the higher 
portions of ground, the water took its course down 
hill with about the same precipitation that it would 
have done from the surface ; while water thus intro¬ 
duced where the surface was level marked little or no 
inclination. The benefit of these frequent apertures 
is, perhaps, to insure safety when pursued, or it may 
be either to afford light or serve as a convenience. 

These amusing little pests could be seen at all hours 
of the day engaged in their own peculiar pastimes, as 
they unhesitatingly asserted their right to recreate 
themselves upon our (?) territory ad libitum . By 
watching them carefully we could readily imagine 
them in turn playing “ hide and go seek,” and u chase 
each other round the comer.” They seemed to un¬ 
derstand each other intelligibly in all their little games 
of mirth ; which, to us, was a study containing many 
little problems that doubtless would puzzle the wisest 
heads to solve. 

They soon became so tame as to climb upon the 
benches by the dining table, while the edibles were 
being cleared away after meals ; when they would 
straighten themselves up to examine the contents of 


160 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


wliat remained, as though in quest of their morsel of 
food from our board. They served us as scavengers ; 
keeping our kitchen and dining arbor free from 
crumbs, and the grounds from the refuse, which they 
either ate or carried to their homes under ground. 
We were obliged to place the contents of our larder 
where it would be inaccessible to them, to prevent 
them from consuming our supplies. 

They crept under our tents at night, paying their 
nocturnal visits while we slept, when they tore up 
papers and feasted upon any accessible luxury. They 
plundered our wardrobe, carrying off the smaller arti¬ 
cles of apparel. I have watched the antics of these 
bet witching little pests by the hour, scarcely less 
amused than were the children,whose diversions while 
in camp depended much upon the novelty of the 
strange companionship of these frisky little rodents. 

Our juveniles trapped them, divesting them of their 
furs, which they brought home as trophies of their 
skill as trappers, and also as an addition to their cab¬ 
inet of natural curiosities. 

Having referred to one class of nocturnal guests, 1 
will introduce another class, belonging to the canines. 
There were two large dogs belonging to the proprietor 
of the ranch upon which we had stored all of our im¬ 
mediate worldly possessions. These dogs, true to 
their instinct, scented bacon, and evidently watched 
their opportunity to burglarize our tents, during the 
dark hours of the night, when we all slept, as the 
sequel will show. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


161 


One morning we went, as usual, to procure our 
breakfast bacon for the morning meal, wlien we ascer¬ 
tained that it had all very mysteriously disappeared. 
Our suspicions could rest upon no one of the cjenus 
homo , as campers were accustomed to leaving their 
valuables in unlocked trunks in open tents whenever 
they went out, and no instance of theft had been 
known to occur. 

Suspicion was therefore fixed upon the two dogs, 
as they had, at different times, been seen prowling 
about the tent at night. The gentlemen at once as¬ 
sumed the role of detectives, and went to work to 
unravel the mystery. They followed the culprits’ 
trail, and made the discovery of one side of bacon, 
which they identified by recognition of the brand. 
The offenders were then put under surveillance ; and, 
two or three days later, they were seen to exhume 
another side of the same material, bearing the same 
brand, which had been carefully hidden away to pro¬ 
vide against coming necessities. The thieves, though 
detected, remained unpunished ; and as we have since 
been heard to relate the incident, we have, in turn, 
almost invariably met with the response, “ We can 
almost credit them with human reason,” while we 
could witness an unsuppressed expression of admira¬ 
tion. 

Our loss may seem trifling to many ; but when 
weighed in the balance with our necessities, to us it 
was onerous. Let those who are strangers to our ex¬ 
perience imagine themselves many miles from any 


162 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


market, without conveyance, with their supplies cut 
off, and they will appreciate our situation. 

We are often asked if we had no fear of wild ani¬ 
mals. Having been told that they seldom entered 
the parks that were settled, we had no reason to fear 
them. On one occasion, however, the gentlemen en¬ 
countered a deer that had strayed from some neigh¬ 
boring forest, which was permitted to escape un¬ 
harmed. I think it was the only wild animal seen in 
close proximity to our camp. Still, their retreats 
are not so far away that hunting does not yet con¬ 
stitute a pursuit of financial consideration to the in¬ 
habitants of these parks. 



CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


163 


CHAPTER XXI. 

Cloudscapes of the Mountains—The Divining Prophet—Chroma¬ 
tic Rays—Cloudland and real Land among the Clouds—How 
the Height of Clouds may he approximated—Instantaneous for¬ 
mation of a Cloud—How produced—Three Conditions neces¬ 
sary—A Theory woven to meet the Emergency—How these 
Conditions may be produced—The Rocky Mountain Range a 
natural complicated Battery—It contains natural galvanic Piles 
—Different causes at work to produce Electricity—Note— 
Chemical Agents—Oxygen and Hydrogen Gases constantly 
elaborated—The great Forces of Nature at work to produce this 
Result—The Sea beneath which we live—Nature places its 
Agents where it has use for them—One of the principal uses of 
this great natural Batter}''—Poetry of the Skies—The Universe a 
Poem of creative Work—Man in harmony with Nature—Phys¬ 
ical Conditions with which one is surrounded influence Char¬ 
acter. 

On all we look, whate’er of joy, 

Some power within lurks to destroy ; 

Some voice that’s hushed, were it to speak. 

Would say, destruction here I seek. 

Thunder is hushed in drop of dew, 

The lightning’s flash there hid from view ; 

The strongest forces atoms hold 
Latent remain, their strength untold. 

The cloudscapes of tlie mountains are picturesquely 
beautiful ; and, whether dyed in the purple tints of 
the morning, or dipped in the sea of carmine and gold 
with which the sunset floods the west at evening, they 
hold captive the admiration of the observer, and ren¬ 
der one oblivious to other charms around. The study 


164 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


of this attractive page in the illustrated volume of na¬ 
ture constituted a pleasure which, above all others, 
tempted us to neglect the active pursuits of daily life, 
and to bear unwarrantable exposures in all types of 
weather. 

But why should the cloudscapes there differ so much 
from those elsewhere ? Local causes. The broken 
surface of the country interferes with the uniform 
temperature and pressure of the atmosphere ; and 
this result becomes a cause, in turn, for influenc¬ 
ing the capacity of the air for retaining moisture ; 
and this capacity, together with the amount of vapor 
to be absorbed, are the divining prophets which fore¬ 
tell the drouth or the storm. 

The chromatic rays of the sun are rendered more 
or less perfect according to the quality or perfection 
of the medium which decomposes light, together with 
the conditions of atmosphere to absorb certain rays 
of color and to transmit others. Hence the peculiar 
coloring and degree of brightness of the cloudscapes 
is measurably due to location. 

The mingling and commingling of the cloudscapes 
afford other peculiar features which enhance vistas, 
while they delight the eye; the principal one of 
which is the happy effect of intermingled lands and 
skies. Lying along the base or sides, and many feet 
below the summits of mountain ranges, definitely 
outlined and beautifully illuminated, the strata may 
often be seen ; where its height may be approxi¬ 
mated from its height above the base of the moun- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


165 


tains against which it rests ; or looking out through a 
deep canyon or gorge, upon the farewell scene of 
day, it may he traced, holding its torch aflame along 
the pathway of night. The highest cumulus some¬ 
times climb above the mountain ranges, and at other 
times form a gorgeous hanging between the interven¬ 
ing distances. 

It was during a clear, bright afternoon, while sit¬ 
ting under the shade of a boulder near by our tent, 
I witnessed the singular phenomenon of the instanta¬ 
neous formation of a cloud. To account for this 
strange, and, to us, new revelation of nature, afforded 
a new theme of study for our leisure hours ; the result 
of which is here given : 

To produce a cloud instantaneously, three condi¬ 
tions are necessary, viz., the previous existence of 
oxygen gas, of hydrogen gas, and the circumstances 
to produce or excite an electric current to unite them. 
The next question that forcibly impressed me was, 
From what local resources are these essential causes 
derived, and upon what are they dependent ? 

The mountains in themselves are one of na¬ 
ture’s exhaustless and most complicated batteries. 
They contain natural galvanic piles, and afford un¬ 
questionable proof of their continuous workings. 
The disintegration of rocks, by chemical action, is 
there one of the most prolific sources of electricity. 
Another, perhaps equally productive, is the unequal 
distribution of heat among the metals, or the differ¬ 
ence of temperature of the metallic rocks there im- 


166 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


bedded. Electricity may be generated without the 
contact of dissimilar metals [Faraday]. In the latter 
case it may be accounted for doubtless by supposing 
that the disturbing element acts upon dissimilar par¬ 
ticles in the same body, placing them in such rela¬ 
tionships as to produce this result. 

Natural galvanic batteries, the currents of which 
are so active in producing chetnical changes, may be 
discovered whenever zinc, one of the baser metals, is 
found in the same lode with silver or copper, asso¬ 
ciated with the earth or with some of the native 
rocks.* 

* I have formed test batteries by using a silver coin with plates 
of zinc, and intermediate layers of damp sand; completing the 
circuit by connecting the poles with my thumb and index finger. 
I have also formed them, in the same manner, substituting a cop¬ 
per coin for the silver one. I sensed a difference in the quality 
of these currents, the one producing an aching pain, and the other 
an acute pain in the sensation of the hand. Thinking that in this 
I might be deceived by some freak of the imagination, I caused 
two unlettered persons to form the connection of the poles of 
these batteries in the same way, without their knowledge of what 
they were, or of the effects they were intended to produce, both 
of whom corroborated the foregoing results. 

These experiments led to the belief—1st. That chemical change 
is the natural result of chemical action. 2d. That electricity is a 
fluid always generated by the chemical action of component par¬ 
ticles of matter common to all bodies. 3d. That the electricity 
thus generated may at the same time be set free through the 
agency of proper conductors. 4th. That any excitation that 
tends to stimulate or increase this action increases also the amount 
of the fluid generated, thereby intensifying its effects by conduc- 
tility ; or, otherwise, leaving it to be held latent by the body in 
which it is generated. 5th. That this quality measurably de- 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


167 


The galvanic battery is also an instrument of power 
in producing chemical decomposition ; and, as the 
two gases which unite to form water are by it distri¬ 
buted almost or quite throughout the economy of 
nature, they may by this process be disengaged from 
almost every tangible substance, both organic and 
inorganic. Besides, other forces are there at work to 
produce these results. An example illustrating the 
quiet way in which these chemical agents are perform¬ 
ing their mission may be cited by referring to the 
vast acreage there covered with crystals of soda, 
which, through the agency of water, give off hydro¬ 
gen gas, and in turn give off oxygen gas through 
the action of sun heat. 

The local advantages for producing the results, 
which an attempt has here been made to prove, over 
those of other locations, lie chiefly in the resources of 
the vast laboratories which lie piled up mountains high, 
where every agent is active and every chemical is 
called into use. The conclusion of the foregoing re¬ 
marks proves that local causes there exist to produce 
the above-named results. A careful study of the 
nature and formation of clouds unravels the mysteries 
of the phenomena they exhibit, and offers an expla¬ 
nation for the otherwise wonderful and seemingly in- 

pends upon the nature and quality of the substance by which it 
is produced, and the quantity upon the capacity of the same ; it 
being subject to the same general laws which control the grosser 
forms of matter. 


168 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


comprehensible problems presented by them to the 
eye and the reason of man. It explains their instan¬ 
taneous formation upon a spotless sky through the 
action of electricity, or their slower formation by the 
process of evaporation. It separates their changeable 
woof of color into rays, and resolves their vapor into 
prisms, by which light is made subservient to their 
adornings, and heat the vehicle to draw them upward 
to their homes in the sky. That the atmosphere is a 
sea of air, is no poetic illusion ; for water, in its subtle 
form, denizened with microscopic tenants, pervades 
it everywhere, having its uses as well as its charms. 

Situated far inland, away from any extensive water 
surface, where the vast plains have drunk up the 
waters which the wind chariots have borne from the 
Gulf of Mexico on the south, and from the Atlantic 
Ocean and the great lake chain on the east, one of the 
principal uses of the extensive natural battery of the 
mountains is, doubtless, to manufacture moisture for 
the support of both animal and vegetable life ; to 
make fertile the low lands of that otherwise sterile 
mineral region, and give salubrity to its climate. 

We may, at least, confidently suppose that nature 
places her agents where she has use for thefn, and 
judges their mission by their works. 

In studying the poetry of the skies, where every 
line of cloud is a part of the great universal hymnal 
of nature, the intellect arises on emotional wing, to 
greet the revelations of the realms where human 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


169 


footsteps never fall, and to grasp the higher concep¬ 
tions of poesy. It was under the inspiring influence 
of the surrounding companionship of inanimate na¬ 
ture, when the deep soul senses thrilled as though 
swept by an unseen hand, that Professor Tice wrote 
his memorable “ Farewell to the Eocky Mountains 
and others whose souls have been sweetly attuned to 
song have sung their rapt measures, perhaps in 
silence, to the world, in boulder shades, beneath moun¬ 
tain skies. 

While yet the mountains have their reign, and the 
thunders proclaim the lightning’s flash around their 
lofty pinnacles, and while the leaping torrents spring 
from the clouds that encircle them, or the silvery 
threads of nature are let down from heaven to bind 
them to the valleys, or the riven earth almost opens 
up to the gaze of man the Plutonian regions where 
these homogeneous and heterogeneous masses of ig¬ 
neous rocks were molten and wrenched from the jaws 
of earth, so long will these grand old ranges, with 
their broken and rugged slopes, their precipitous 
sides, and their arches and hangings of color, enlarge 
and ennoble the heart of him whose aspirations reach 
high enough to gather the inspiration they offer. 

It was during an hour spent in nature’s solitude 
that the humble author of this little work embarked 
in the enterprise of inditing the following apostrophe, 
which, though not intended for a book, is given the 
reader by special request. 


170 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


APOSTROPHE TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 


i. 

Grand pinnacles, that kiss the skies 1 
Grand mountains, that o’er mountains rise ! 
Deep garners, rich with fruits of gold ! 

Bold granite forms, of every mould 1 
Vast high expanse, that found not space. 

In nature’s deep abiding place ! 

Green valleys, deep, dark mountain gorge, 
Where Jupiter his bolts doth forge ! 

Bright flowering parks, whose fertile mead. 
Await the fructifying seed ! 

Swift winds that bear from cooling mount. 

To thirsting plains, the winged fount! 

Broad streams, that belt the mountain sides ! 
Sheen lakes, so far above the tides ! 

Brave torrents, that, with matchless spell. 
From glazier heights, leap to the dell 1 
Dark cataracts, that rage, and foam, 

In caverns deep, then make your moan ; 

Wild storms, let fall by weary wind, 

’Neath where the mountain feet hath climbed 1 
Thine unseen power, th’ emotions sway, 

With artless art, the heart strings play ; 
Awaken chords, before unstrung ; 

Awaken strains, before unsung. 

ii. 

There seems a voice, I cannot hear, 

Though far away ; yet, to me, near ! 

So vague, in space—so undefined— 

Yet, clearly inwrought, to the mind— 

Of one, that knows all science, deep, 

And nature’s secrets cannot keep. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


171 


Its legions date, e’er song first rang. 

When morning stars together sang. 
Creation’s art it long hath known ; 

Of universe, measured each zone. 

We hearken to its tales of old— 

Of alchemists, in cavern fold ; 

Almost above the sea of air, 

They’ve reared elysiums wondrous fair. 
They e’en have wrought since time began, 
And reared the thrones of Jove and Pan. 

It tells us of races of men, 

Whom hist’r 3 r hath forgot to pen. 

It tells of chivalry and war ; 

Back, in Time’s liist’ry, page afar ; 

Of heroes, and of gods, unknown. 

And conquerors perished with their throne ; 
Of peace, when virtue sat in state, 

And ruled the world ; fearless of hate. 
(Then was the Eden of our race ; 

We here give neither time nor place.) 

m. 

We shudder, for an era’s fall! 

O, God ! Where are these races, all ? 

No tongue was left to tell the tale ; 

No soul was left there, to bewail; 

When continent, from strand to strand, 
Was shaken by Almighty hand. 

When earth was rent, from pole to pole, 
And change was writ, on heaven’s scroll. 

IV. 

We turn a leaf in Time’s fair book, 

And find new scenes, where’er we look. 
New lands we tread ; new life appears ; 
New prophecies, and new born seers. 


172 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


From centres new, new races start; 

And cities rise, with peopled mart; 

Where nation once had rise, and fall; 

A race, lies ’neath its funeral pall. 

We see the works of ancient art, 

Where human hands, performed their part; 
Who, since the present era’s dawn, 

Have run their course ; the race is gone. 
But crumbling ruins now remain, 

Of heroes gone, and conquerors slain ; 

The only index to a race ; 

That, like us, here, have had a place. 

Time’s footsteps tell not whence they came 
And record hath not given name. 

’Tis only left the present age, 

To snatch this from oblivion’s page. 


v. 

From all, that ages past, have wrought. 
Oblivion’s register is"fraught; 

And, in its realms, shall yet be found, 
Lost arts, lost myths, lost truths abound ; 
The past, the future may explore, 

Find the lost key, to hidden lore ; 

And science, with gigantic pen, 

Unfold its mysteries to men ; 

Unlock the vaults, her treasures store, 
And, our race lost, give back once more. 

VI. 

Since the last era’s fatal day, 

Mountains have ’ris’n and passed away 
E’en sceneried curtains, on earth’s stage. 
Have rise and fall, with era’s age. 

Along the range of Rocky slopes, 
Destruction, masked, in silence, gropes ; 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


173 


Touches with blight the tow’ring wall, 
And granite avalanches fall. 

Before her stand the mountains gray ; 
Some have grown old, and passed away, 
And monumental columns stand, 

Where mountains were the hourglass sand. 

vn. 

Pictured on page, in art sublime. 

The ripple marks the water’s line ; 

Where erosion, with skilful might. 

Hath given shape to every height; 

Worn gulches deep, and canyons wide, 
And shown where once swept ocean tide, 
And where the sea had fixed its bound, 
And continent might then be found ; 

Hath taught us of the wind and storm, 
Whose etchings trace our evening’s morn ; 
Told where clouds fell to make the rill, 
That impress left, on mount and hill; 
Where streamlet, from its winding course. 
Was gathered into river’s force ; 

Or, leaping free of fett’ring strand, 

It bore away some mark of land ; 

And left, inscribed, upon the shore, 

A line, addressed to future lore— 

Written on lithographic page 
And left on records of the age. 

yiir. 

Here streams have wearied of their bed ; 
Here waters from their course have fled ; 
Here trees and shrubs, in beauty grow, 
Where song hath ceased, of water’s flow ; 
Here flowers now bloom upon the grave, 
Of all that lived, beneath their wave ; 


174 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


And change upon the shore is made 
Where ocean bounds could not be stayed. 

Here forests lie, in graveyard, deep 
Buried, beneath the mountain steep. 

Here winds have changed their current course. 
Been shorn of strength, or, gathered force ; 
Have continent changed, and built new lands. 
And driven seas to new made strands. 
Creation’s works, of other days, 

Are hymned, in God’s eternal lays. 



CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


175 


CHAPTER XXII. 

Mountain Storms—Troops of Clouds—They begin Hostilities— 
Threatening Danger—A Sea of Cloud—It is charged with Elec¬ 
tric Fire—Jupiter enthroned—Fountains of the Sky—Con¬ 
tinuous Coruscation—Battle of the Elements—Conquering 
Battalions—Their victorious March—Banner of the Battle-field 
—Emotions of that Hour—Campers suffer Loss—Hints on se¬ 
lecting a Camp Ground—Rainy Season—Indian Summer—April 
in August—Clothing quickly dries—Winds in the Parks change¬ 
able—Every variety of Weather sometimes observant at once— 
Storm and Calm—Freaks of the Climate—Orography of the 
Mountains. 

Ye winds that roam o’er land and main, 

And lash to waves the sea of air, 

Upon whose tides the foam cloud rides. 

Hailing the open harbors fair, 

We greet the kingdom of thy reign. 

It was my ambition to experience one of those wild 
mountain storms which so many have attempted, and 
all failed to describe. About four o’clock one after¬ 
noon we saw troops of cloud, furious in their impet¬ 
uous march, approaching. They soon began hostil¬ 
ities with the peaceful elements around us. We 
hastened to our tents, which were near by, but so sud¬ 
denly had the storm king descended from his throne, 
commanding the invincible force, that was felling 
with continuous stroke the forests around us, that we 
had scarcely time to avail ourselves of their shelter 


176 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


when they began swaying to and fro, while the fierce 
wind threatened to uplift or demolish them. 

We seemed suddenly plunged in a sea of cloud, 
charged with electric fire. We could easily imagine 
Jupiter in his reign sitting enthroned upon some lofty 
summit near by, hurling his thunderbolts with such 
fury as to awe mortals and render them almost power¬ 
less under his supremacy. The rain fell as though 
the fountains of the sky had been suddenly opened, 
and their contents were about to deluge the earth. 
The forests moaned as though stricken with the grief 
of sudden calamity. The dark clouds that hung over 
us on all sides w T ere illuminated by a continuous co¬ 
ruscation of fire, while the lightnings played every¬ 
where around us. Reverberations of thunder were 
lost only in renewed peals, and our canvas perceptibly 
quaked under the influence of the waves of sound, as 
it struggled against the vehemence of the storm. 

The tempestuous elements strove together with 
unabated fury for the space of one hour, when sud¬ 
denly the conflict ceased, and the conquering bat¬ 
talions of the skies, with their unspent forces of war, 
retreated in broken lines of victorious march, bearing 
away the last battery from the embrasured battlements 
of the heavens. Scarcely were the repeating echoes 
of their marshal notes lost in distance, ere the bright 
and radiant bow of promise was hung in the glory of 
its richest splendor, as a banner over the field of battle. 
The emotions of that hour I may never again experi¬ 
ence—emotions that I shall ever fail to find language 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


177 


to describe. Tlie deeper strung chords of my nature 
sent forth their first notes of song ; while over the 
whole scale of my being the hand of minstrelsy swept, 
and the inwrought melody was one that may never 
be reproduced. 

We suffered no loss, and comparatively little incon¬ 
venience, from the incursion of the storm, as our loca¬ 
tion afforded good surface drainage, in addition to 
which drains had been cut around and from our tents, 
having ample capacity for the emergency. While our 
tents remained dry, those of some of our neighboring 
campers were deluged. One lady, in referring to the 
event, said : “ Large hail stones fell upon and around 
our tents ; and as the storm increased the water sud¬ 
denly rushed in upon us, from under the canvas, and 
we had scarcely time to gather up anything before it 
had spread over the tent fioor, and was pouring 
through in a rapid current, drenching beds and cloth¬ 
ing, and damaging provisions.” 

We learned in this our first experience in a moun¬ 
tain storm, that tents should not be pitched too near a 
mountain side, or too close by a stream where the 
embankments are low.and flat ; but that the location 
should always be selected in consideration of both 
winds and storms, and ample drainage provided. 

The rainy season in that locality usually commences 
about the middle of August, and is considered a warn¬ 
ing to campers to leave. It continues several weeks, 
after which comes the welcome long Indian summer. 
During the earlier part of August we found the 


178 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


weather exceedingly fickle, not nnlike April weather 
in the valleys, being subject to sudden and frequent 
showers. But one thing favored those who happened 
to be out in them ; and that was, their clothing dried 
so rapidly that it was seldom changed on account of 
being wet. The winds in the parks are necessarily 
changeable, being intercepted in their general course, 
and reflected by their opposing barriers. There are 
times when every variety of weather presents itself to 
the eye of the spectator at the same moment. I have 
seen on one hand mountains lying under a cloud of 
falling snow ; others, with their mantles of crystal 
glittering in the clear sunlight; a rainstorm dimming 
the peaks and sides of other heights, a shadow of 
cloud, bearing the footsteps of storm elsewhere, rest¬ 
ing over summit and gorge ; in another direction, the 
descending storms were laved in sunbeams, while the 
winds lifted one vehicle of cloud here and rifted 
another there ; on one mountain the wind was spend¬ 
ing its fury among the broken pines, while upon 
another there was seeming calm. I have watched the 
strife of the elements, when the message-bearer of the 
clouds flashed its dispatches from one portion of the 
heavens to another, and all save its terrific voice was 
awed to silence. I have seen the armies of the skies 
go forth to battle, and heard the angry peals of their 
artillery in the far-off din of war, when no danger 
threatened the undisturbed quiet of our own seclusion. 
Such are some of the freaks of the climate of the 
mountains, which present a strange contrast with the 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


179 


comparatively unchangeable bearing of nature, in lier 
stern character, as otherwise manifested there, in all its 
phases. 

To those who love to sit down and view her face 
to face, and to watch her in all her changing expres¬ 
sions—her smile in the sunshine, her frown in the 
cloud, and her passion or rage in the storm—the 
mountains afford rare opportunities. 

The orography of the Rocky Mountains is a study 
for the most scientific research. In detail it would 
fill large volumes, while their history and legends 
would constitute other extensive works, neither of 
which is here intended to receive but a passing con¬ 
sideration in its respective association with the inci¬ 
dents of a temporary visit to some of their resorts. 
Since writing the above, a new work has come before 
the public, “ The Great Divide,’’ and notwithstand¬ 
ing it has not been my good fortune yet to have seen it, 
judging from the interest the subject presents, and 
what I have been able to learn of the rare ability of 
the author, 1 predict the work to be one of unusual 
merit. 



180 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

Adieu—Nearly the last to leave—Rural Music—Psalms of the 
Mountains—Birthright, as handed down by our first Parents 
—Our personal Effects—Disappointment—The Team non est — 
Services volunteered to search for the Equines—Difficulties at¬ 
tending the Search—Discovery of the lost Animals—Taking 
Leave—On our Way— En Bivouac —Fires in the Mountains— 
Their terrible March of Destruction—Danger and Death— 
Clouds from the Vapor of the Fires—Sunset—How these fires 
originate—The law prescribes punishment. 

ADIEU TO THE MOUNTAINS. 

% i. 

Adieu, 

Each glittering peak, each purling brook. 

Each leafy tree, each quiet nook ; 

Each mellow light, each softened shade. 

That impress on my heart hath made. 

I’ve learned to count each treasure dear, 

Of all the wealth thou boldest here. 


ii. 

Companions of the trees I’ve made. 

Of boulders, sitting ’neath their shade ; 

Traced the dark storm-cloud, tipped with light. 
That rests, where eagle takes its flight; 

And watched their shadows, pass away. 

Which told that we, too. have our day. 


in. 

I’ve traced the giants, brave and bold, 
Upon the mountains, their stronghold ; 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


181 


And animals, which none can tame. 
There domiciled, in quiet hame ; 

All sitting mute, silent and cold, 
Whose granite forms, all may behold. 


IV. 

I’ve seen, far up the mountain height, 

Almost beyond the ken of sight, 

The open doors to caverns wide, 

Where human footsteps cannot bide, 

Beyond whose thresholds naught was known, 
Perchance, of beasts of prey the home. 


Caves, too, I’ve seen, where climbed the vine, 
And o’er their ceilings, high did twine ; 

And thence, adown their walls depend, 

With grace, that charms to beauty lend ; 
Around whose entrance, bramble grew, 

And half concealed the caverned view : 

VI. 

And grottoes, of which poets dream ; 

Where gods woo’d goddesses, I ween ; 

And where, from tow’ring cliff, w r as thrown 
The rocks that are at once a throne 
Where, in recesses, dark, and deep, 

Immortal records, gods did keep. 

VII. 

Of such, the ancients once did write, 

And painted them in glamour light— 

Great men as gods, and gods great men, 
Created by idyllic pen ; 

And crowned, with strange ideal thought, 
Which Graces into image wrought. 


182 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


Yin. 

I’ve seen where rocky clefts were made 
So dark and deep, there slept the shade ; 
And never, from the home of light, 
Came messenger, to wake the night. 
Weird figures, from the spectral scene, 
Broke only an ideal dream. 
****** 


These golden gates will time unbar ; 

These courts be peopled from afar ; 

In these vast temples, anthems ring, 

Till tuneful voice shall cease to sing ; 

And every note, to measured lays, 

Blend in one universal praise. 

x. 

These wastes, that bloom ’neath heaven’s smile, 
Shall wealth, in golden harvests, pile ; 

These forests, where the wild beasts play, 

And lion in his lair doth lay, 

Are, to the future, promised land ; 

Near which the waiting Abrahams stand. 


Stay us not here, O fond delights ! 

To witness autumn’s coming blights ; 

We could not bear the swift decay. 

Destined to take our loves away. 

Cold winds, and frosts, thy blight and death 
Forbear. Touch not with thy chill breath, 
The verdure ripe, or blushing bloom, 

Nor pluck the foliage, for their tomb. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


183 


XII. 

Adieu, 

To all I see. The brightest scenes 
Will fade, as distance intervenes. 

E’en time with its effacing hand, 

W ill wipe out views in this fair land ; 

While image fair, on mem’ry’s page, 

Now wrought, will cheer our coming age. 

XHI. 

Adieu, 

Each welcome voice, with accents sweet; 

To all I have been won’t to meet; 

To lips, by kindest words endeared ; 

And loving hearts, that mine have cheered ; 

All, me have brought sure recompense, 

And blessings, I bear with me hence. 

It was nearing our time to leave the mountains. 
"Wh had witnessed the departure of many tourists 
whose presence had contributed to the pleasure of our 
stay ; and though nearly the last to leave, our sojourn 
among the 6c Alps of America’ ’ was about to termi¬ 
nate. The strains of the mountain blue jay and the 
magpie that greeted us, as these daily visitors paused 
and perched in some inviting tree upon our camp 
ground, to rest in their weary flight, would soon be 
sung where no delighted ear would listen ; and the 
early discordant concert of mountain grouse would 
then cease to call us from our morning slumbers. 
The lowing herd that nightly made their way to the 
ranch would then cease to remind us of the pastoral 
scenes of our far-off childhood, country home. The 


184 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


grand cathedral cliant of the unwritten psalms with 
which the mountains broke forth into rejoicing would 
soon cease to greet us with its melody. The peaceful 
solitudes we had enjoyed in nature’s tranquil hours 
would miss our coming footsteps. The freedom of 
camp life would soon be exchanged for the conven¬ 
tionalities of social intercourse. We were about to 
give up the birthright bequeathed to us by our first 
parents—viz., the undisputed right to select our home 
in all the open fields around us, or to fix our claims 
at discretion. But we freely yielded these rights to 
those who might come after us, assured that some 
heir to their vast estate would follow in our wake ; for 

Since Adam found his paradise 
In field, and open air. 

Posterity, in every clime, 

Have sought their Eden there. 

On the 24th of August, just one month from the 
day our tents were pitched, they were taken down 
and folded, and our personal effects packed. At an 
early hour we were prepared to retrace our journey. 
But, in accordance with the uncertainty of all human 
events, we were destined to disappointment. The 
team that had been engaged to convey us to Denver 
had not been picketed the night previous to our start; 
and having been left to roam at large, they were not 
to be found in the morning. The hills and the large 
number of mammoth boulders that lay scattered every¬ 
where around, together with groves of timber, and 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


185 


the near mountains and canyons, rendered the search 
extremely difficult. 

The whole available force of the ranch and the 
neighboring camps entered into volunteer service in 
search of the equines. The squad started off, describ¬ 
ing as many points of compass as it contained mem¬ 
bers. The search continued until eleven o’clock a.m., 
when a loud whoop from one of the party signalled 
the discovery of the lost animals. 

Twelve o’clock m. found us bidding adieu to the 
friends who had come together to take leave of us. 
Our landlady had previously served us with a sumptu¬ 
ous lunch, and her two sons had presented our party 
with botanical and mineral specimens collected in that 
vicinity, which we now hold in grateful memory of 
these and many other kindnesses, while the lord manor 
of the ranch prepared to accompany us. 

At one o’clock p.m. we were on our way, slowly de¬ 
scending through park and gorge to the plains, over 
the same route we had previously taken and have 
already described. We reached the toll gate that 
night, where we went into camp. The younger 
members of our party, who had indulged in long 
walks during the afternoon, found themselves greatly 
exhausted (as indeed we all were), but rallied under 
the tonic effects of a hearty supper, for which we had 
an unusual relish. 

The principal objects of interest to us during the 
afternoon had been the fires in the mountains. At 
different distances, and in different directions, we saw 


186 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


five of these terrible conflagrations, sweeping onward 
in their unchecked march of destruction. Without 
the aid of a drenching storm, it is impossible to stay 
their course or contend successfully against them. 
This terrible enemy to both property and life was scal¬ 
ing the highest mountains, undaunted and unob¬ 
structed, its rage entirely uncontrolled. The flames, 
fed upon the tall pines, arose to great heights far 
above the loftiest summits, and leaped forward in large 
sheets with malicious fury, or rested upon a dark cloud 
of smoke against a background of sky. Sometimes 
these fires encircle the base of a mountain before aris¬ 
ing to a great height; and persons above the tide of 
seething flame are suddenly aroused to a sense of dan¬ 
ger, when it is found too late to escape the threaten¬ 
ing calamity. Not many years ago an instance of 
this kind occurred, when the fives of several miners 
were sacrificed to the flames ; and another, when 
pioneer homes, together with the families occupying 
them, were burned to ashes. 

The air above and around us was dim with the haze 
of smoke, the vapor of which gradually arose to the 
height of several hundred feet, and encircled the 
horizon with a beautiful strata of cloud ; which, a “few 
hours later, distributed itself over the whole visible 
heavens. 

As the sun went down to the seeming repose of 
night, each ray of fight seemed shivered into pris¬ 
matic color and spent upon the cloudscape thus 
formed, imparting to it a touch of indescribable beauty. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


187 


How do these fires originate ? Sometimes from 
fires carelessly left burning by campers ; sometimes 
by the stump of a cigar being thoughtlessly thrown 
upon the crisp grass ; sometimes from a stroke of 
lightning ; and sometimes they are set for the purpose 
of clearing the ground to facilitate prospecting. 

In the devastating wake of min thus wrought often 
the forest of an entire mountain side is left charred 
and standing, which the winds sweep down, and time 
by its chemical processes consumes. 

We were told that the laws of the State fixed heavy 
fines upon those persons found guilty of starting one 
of these conflagrations. The damage thus done is 
reparable only by time. While there is already quite 
a heavy drain upon the timber for both mining and 
commercial pursuits, the demand is steadily increas¬ 
ing ; and it becomes those who execute the law to be 
strict in its enforcement, where this native source of 
wealth demands protection. 





188 CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


CHAPTER XXIY. 

Morning—We visit the aforementioned sick Child—Convales¬ 
cent—Moving forward—Reaching Boulder—Pleasantly Enter¬ 
tained—Back to Home Life—We again pursue our Journey— 
Boulder River—Coal Mines—Onslaught upon Colorado Grass¬ 
hoppers—We capture a few Specimens—Lizards—Our last 
Dinner in the capacity of the Camp—Bill of Fare—A Stranger 
calls—We meet twenty-four Hours later, without being recog¬ 
nized—Another Tourist—Indifference with which People travel 
—Dryness of the Plains—A Dilemma—Reaching Denver— 
Supper—Rest—Most places of popular Resort now accessible 
by Rail—Other Facilities for travelling. 

The east lay draperied in cloud, 

Where night, with stars, had pinned her shrowd ; 

But when the eye of day looked down, 

The morning sky soon ceased to frown. 

The brilliant light, proceeding from another camp, 
and the amount of cheer, rest, and comfort its scenes 
and surroundings foretold, attracted us to the place 
where, side by side with it, our fires were soon lighted 
for the night. 

We obtained a good supply of fresh milk and but¬ 
termilk from the ranch, made our meal, and sought 
sleep, the elixir of rest. 

Early and hurriedly we prepared for the journey 
of the second day on the following morning, which 
would terminate our way through the mountains. 
But before leaving camp we made a short call upon 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


189 


the child we . had left so sick on our way into the 
park. We found her nearly recovered, and left her, 
with the prospects of a long and useful life before 
her. 

The sun was about an hour high, when we found 
ourselves duly seated in our mountain vehicle, and 
again moving forward, thoughtfully taking leave of 
each mountain, canyon, park, gulch, and stream, 
which now hold so prominent a place in our memory. 

About four o’clock p.m. we arrived at Boulder City, 
where our entire party gratefully accepted an invita¬ 
tion to spend the remainder of the day and the night 
at the residence of Mr. Charles Campbell. Our en¬ 
tertainment was one of rest, comfort, and pleasure. 
There, for the first time in nearly six weeks, we slept 
in a house, and enjoyed the privileges of home life. 
It was, to us, a leap forward from the primeval life 
of our ancestors into the nineteenth century; or 
from the days of Abraham and the patriarchs, 
and their tented encampments, to the architectural 
homes of the present day. We welcomed this 
change with a delight known only to those who, for 
a time, have exchanged the comforts and conveniences 
of pleasant homes for the romance of adventurous 
travel. 

The following morning, after some delay, we 
started on our way over the plains to Denver. 
Crossing the Boulder Biver we stopped for a short 
time, and made a hasty visit to the coal mines. Re¬ 
suming our route we found the rays of the sun, which 


190 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


had then risen high, intensely, and almost intolerably, 
warm. Umbrellas were brought into use, but were 
found inconvenient, and soon abandoned, while to 
ride under the canvas of our wagon was extremely 
oppressive. Soon tiring of our crowded positions, 
several of our number alighted, accepting the only 
alternative, which was to walk. 

We found the plains thickly tenanted with a mov¬ 
ing legion of grasshoppers. Of these there were 
many species, most of which were of such enormous 
size as to render them very destructive. We availed 
ourselves of the opportunity to make a collection of 
these dreaded insects, by the invasion of whose armies 
settlers had been driven from their homes, and por¬ 
tions of our country devastated. To this collection 
was also added two or three species of lizards, most 
of which succeeded in making their escape from us 
soon afterwards. 

About noon we reached a farm-house where an inn 
was kept. There we found a good well of water, 
and it was decided that we should take our dinner be¬ 
fore going further. Our team was driven along close 
beside the fence. Between the fence and the wagon a 
canvas tent-fly was stretched, by which means a 
temporary pavillion was improvised. Under this we 
spread our cloth and edibles ; and, grouping together 
in its grateful shade, we dined for the last time in 
the capacity of the camp. The occasion being a 
notable one, from the fact that it was the last, though 
the bill of fare was ordinary, it is here given : 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


191 


Drinks. 


Tea (steeped in a bottle in the sun). 

Buttermilk. 

Lemonade. 


Soup. 

Oyster. 


Speckled Trout. 

Fish. 

Sardines. 

Breakfast Bacon. 

Meats. 

Pickled Pork. 

Baked Beans. 

Vegetables. 

Tomatoes. 

Corn. 

Alpine sauce. 

Relishes. 

Pickles. 

Corn Bread. 

Pastry. 

Light Bread. 

Biscuits. 


Fruit. 

Peaches. 



Before we had finished the course presented for 
our repast, a gentleman of prepossessing appearance, 
both in dress and address, drove up, alighted near 
by, and after a short conversation with the gentle¬ 
man accompanying us, in the guise of a driver, he 
advanced and introduced himself. Covered with dust, 
as all of us were, and dressed in clothing that had 
done service before (though appropriate for the occa¬ 
sion), we naturally observed the contrast with some 
embarrassment. 


192 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


Feeling that an apology was due our guest, as well 
as ourselves, it was promptly made and accepted. 
After a brief interview our visitor took leave, not, 
however, until he had relieved us of further embar¬ 
rassment by remarking that it was nearing time for 
him to start, as he had an engagement to meet ; and 
before leaving he must complete the dress of the 
pedal extremities by way of introducing them to a 
pair of socks. 

We met him again the next day at church, but the 
transformation we had undergone by the use of soap, 
water, brushes, and changes of clothing, rendered us 
unrecognizable. When services were over, one of 
the party, which he. had met the day previous, ad¬ 
vanced and addressed him. With evident surprise he 
remarked : “ You, sir, have the advantage of me, as I 
do not remember ever to have seen you before. ’ 5 Four 
other members of our party were afterwards intro¬ 
duced to him, none of whom were recognized. 
Another tourist, an artist, who had accompanied us a 
few miles on our way over the plains, took leave of 
us just before entering the city, stating that he had 
left a suit of clothes there, which he must don, or his 
friends would not know him upon his arrival home. 
These incidents are mentioned to show with what 
freedom people travel through that sparsely settled 
country. The reason of this manifest indifference to 
personal appearance is the utter impossibility of pre¬ 
serving a condition of neatness. During the summer 
months the plains, where the rain seldom falls, aiid 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


193 


little or no dew ever appears, are so dry as to render 
it impossible to travel in any capacity without being 
continually surrounded by a cloud of dust, and the 
most dainty travelling suit soon becomes distasteful. 
For this reason those who travel in private convey¬ 
ances usually take trunks, containing ample changes 
of clothing, and leave them outside the city, where 
they can be accommodated to both bath and dressing- 
room on their return. 

The evening sun hung in the western sky when we 
entered Denver. The elite of the city were out for 
their afternoon drives. We were again in a dilemma. 
The contrast between their equipage and ours was 
becoming painfully striking to us, and pleasurably 
emotional to them. 

Our trunks had been left at our hotel, and the 
wardrobe we had taken with us was unavailable. 
Our wounded pride began to suffer. Still there was 
but one way to do, and that was to submit to circum¬ 
stances. 

We recalled an original maxim, by which we have 
previously endeavored to govern our immediate fam¬ 
ily circle, which reads : Dare he, or do , whatever God 
or circumstances require. Some of the party pro¬ 
tested against riding through the city until the canvas 
cover of our vehicle had been drawn down, and the 
passengers concealed from the gaze of strangers ; but 
the experiment proved a failure, the air thus confined 
being so warm as to be unbearable. 

Upon our arrival, the joke we had unconsciously per- 


194 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


petrated upon ourselves was enjoyed immensely, 
though our welcome was made a hearty one. Our 
genial landlord forgot none of the attentions due his 
guests, even under these trying circumstances. 

We were not only dusty, but sunburned, hungry, 
and tired. After a thorough lotion, a due amount of 
dusting and brushing, accompanied by changes in our 
toilette, which was not accomplished without a great 
deal of unpacking, we repaired to the dining-room, 
where we did ample justice to a sumptuous supper. 

Fruits were never more delicious, nor viands sweeter 
to the taste, than to us that night ; nor did weary 
waiters ever find a company of travellers better pre¬ 
pared to appreciate attention than was ours upon that 
occasion. 

Having portrayed the romance of a trip from Den¬ 
ver into the mountains, over the common thorough¬ 
fare or wagon road, by private conveyance, and also 
hinted at some of the inconveniences attending such 
a trip, it may not be amiss to state, for the benefit of 
those who are not fond of adventure, that trains now 
run within a few miles of the park (with a prospect 
of a railroad through it at no distant day), and most 
places now made available for resorts of pleasure are 
already accessible by rail. Where the roads fail in 
reaching those places, stages ’connect with trains in 
their regular trips. Private carriages may also be 
readily obtained at any of these points along the route, 
so that passengers need never necessarily be detained 
in their travels to any part of the Eocky Mountains. 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


195 


CHAPTER XXY. 

En route— Eagerness to discover a herd of Bison—Our Ambition 
partially rewarded—Difference between a wild and a tame 
Buffalo—Frequent discovery of Antelope—Cow Punchers— 
Cow Punchers’ Saddles—Instrument used in driving Stock— 
Lonely Life of the Herdsmen—Shepherds—Shut out from the 
World of Men—Shepherds of Old—God selects one from their 
Number—His Eye still keepeth watch over them—Utes—Tra¬ 
gedy in Frontier Life—Government defends the Settlers—Utes 
considered friendly—Snow Sheds—Plains on Fire—Kansas— 
Its Wealth of Harvest in Store—Missouri—Her Storehouses 
tilled—Hum of Industry and ring of Prosperity—The Lever by 
which the poor are raised to Power—Evening Benediction— 
Night—Rest with but little Sleep—Home again. 

After a sojourn of a few days happily spent in 
Denver, the city of classic associations, and its 
vicinity, we prepared to take leave on our homeward 
journey. On a bright beautiful morning we boarded 
an eastern bound train, and soon found ourselves en 
route over the plains. 

There was very little to engage our attention that 
we had not seen before. Our former eagerness to 
discover a herd of buffaloes was here in part rewarded 
by the sight of an immense bison at one of the railway 
stations. W e were welcoming this partial and almost 
unexpected remuneration for the diligent search in 
which our eyes had tirelessly swept over the plains, 
when we were told that it had been obtained, when a 
calf, by its present owner. 


196 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


Now the difference between a wild buffalo and a 
tame one may be slight, but we have to admit that, 
trivial as it may be, it had the power to dispel much 
of the pleasure that our discovery afforded. 

Antelopes were numerous along the route, and 
the discovery of them became so frequent in its 
occurrence that the circumstance scarcely claimed a 
passing notice. 

The herdsmen were still pursuing their monotonous 
vocation, their dark, tawny, sun-browned faces scarcely 
leaving a satisfactory trace to show the race to which 
they belonged. They sit in their saddles most of the 
time, always fearing to leave them when they sleep, 
lest they be trampled by their herd. These men bear 
the distinguishing title of u cow punchers,” which 
was given them in consideration of the weapon which 
they make use of in separating and driving stock. 
It consists of a long pole, having a sharp metallic 
point in one end. I remember once to have seen 
several specimens of these instruments, which w T ere 
being preserved in a museum, and pointed out as 
relics of the barbarism of the past, the owner of 
which seems to have been entirely ignorant of the fact 
that only a few hundred miles away they were still 
an article of commerce, and also that the ferocious¬ 
ness of these undomesticated herds sometimes re¬ 
quires more than gentle means to control. 

The saddles used by these men differ from other 
saddles, and are arranged with special adaptation to 
the use for which they are intended. In crossing a 


CAMPING IN COLORADO . 


197 


bridge over Platte River, in Denver, we saw no less 
than three advertisements erected upon that super¬ 
structure, instructing the travelling, and doubtless 
interested, public where cow punchers’ saddles could 
be obtained cheap. 

We could but pity the condition of the lone herds¬ 
men, exposed as they are to both extremes of tem¬ 
perature and every variety of weather, and cut off 
from every social avenue of life. The uninhabited 
fields around them are comparatively unproductive of 
change, and there is scarcely aught but the coming 
and going of the seasons to fix the milestones along 
the pathway of life. 

The shepherds, too, were lazily reposing by their 
charge amid the surrounding desolation. Pot even 
the companionship of a boulder or a tree was to be 
obtained for many long, weary miles. The sacrifice 
demanded of this class of men can hardly be com¬ 
pensated for. Left with so little to engage the at¬ 
tention, it is not for us to wonder that the shepherds 
of old devoted themselves to the study of music and 
the heavenly bodies. Alone, and comparatively un¬ 
known to the world, was one whom God took from 
their ranks and made king over his chosen people, 
Israel, buffeting the storms and contending with the 
snows of adversity, doubtless gave him courage to 
baffle against his enemies, or moral strength to for¬ 
bear with their unjust practices against him. Added 
to this, perhaps, the pastimes of his leisure hours had 
given him skill and dexterity in the use of the simple 


198 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


weapons so successfully wielded against Goliath. 
Again, the Psalms could scarcely have contained so 
much real poetry had he not accustomed himself to 
the study of the world around him in the school of 
the open fields, and educated himself in the beauti¬ 
ful comparisons of spiritual with external things, 
which he therein gave to the w T orld. His occupation 
in early life was evidently as much a Providence as 
■was any portion of his history ; and as the same eye 
that then watched over the plains of the East slum- 
bereth not in the vigilance it is keeping over those of 
our own land, some humble child of God’s tender care 
is, perhaps, there being fitted for his special purposes, 
and to add to the brightness of his glory. 

The next objects we met that claimed our particu¬ 
lar attention were a band of Utes. This tribe of 
Indians is characterized by being very dark, short, 
and tliick-set. They are filthy and repulsive in 
appearance. Long as they have lingered upon the 
boundaries of civilization, they still cling to their hab¬ 
its of roving. ISTot content with their reservations, 
their home, if they may be said to have a home, is 
yet in the mountains ; but they make frequent jour¬ 
neys to the plains, where they subsist upon such game 
as is there to be found. 

Inseparably associated with this tribe are many 
tragedies of frontier life, which are still recited to 
strangers, as incidentally interwoven with the history 
of the mountains. Indeed, a generation has not 
passed since this band of outlaws was the terror of 


VAMPING IN COLORADO. 


199 


every defenceless settler, emigrant, or traveller witliin 
their reach. They indiscriminately robbed and mur¬ 
dered every white man, woman, and child, until for¬ 
bearance with them ceased to be a virtue, and restraint 
became a necessity, when the men in the white set¬ 
tlements, aided by troops of war, successfully con¬ 
quered them. 

They are now considered friendly and peaceably 
disposed ; but it is their want of power to contend 
successfully against the white man, whom they, per¬ 
haps justly, regard as their natural enemy, that assures 
the settler of his safety ; for such is the nature of the 
red man that no argument with him is persuasive save 
that dictated by war. Their undeveloped moral 
nature can not respond to moral suasion, and their 
untutored intellect can comprehend no power higher 
than that of brute force. The history of the two 
races is, in their relative attitudes to each other, con¬ 
tinually repeating itself, and to recapitulate it is un¬ 
necessary. The tribe is now estimated to number 
about 6000 men, women, and children. 

In many places along the road the track is pro¬ 
tected from snow during storms and high winds in 
winter by snow sheds. These are simply board fences, 
some of which incline in an angle of about forty-five 
degrees, and are sustained or strengthened by scant- 

ling- 

The plains were on tire in many places. As these 
fires, so far as w'e could observe, all seemed to have 
liad their origin near the road, it was evident that 


200 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


they had either been lighted by sparks from the 
locomotive or cigar stumps thrown from passing 
trains. 

In due time we again found ourselves passing over 
the fertile meadows and productive fields of Kansas. 
The ripened harvest had been garnered, but the thick 
golden stubble unmistakably told the vast amount of 
wealth that State then held in store. 

Having passed the boundary line of Kansas, the 
second day’s journey from Denver found us, at five 
o’clock p.m., within the pale of the great common¬ 
wealth of Missouri. Here, too, the fields had been 
unburdened of their abundant yield, and every store¬ 
house was filled to overflowing. Everywhere around, 
in the hum of industry was the ring of prosperity. 
In all the cities or villages through which we passed 
there was evidence of thrift and promise. The din of 
labor, the lever by which the poor are lifted to 
wealth, prosperity, and power, greeted us on all sides 
until the hours of toil gave place to those of rest. 
Slowly the day declined, and the sun went down, 
throwing a shimmer of golden glory over the land¬ 
scape. Hight caught the benediction, and through 
the lingering twilight, one after another, came troops 
of worlds, until the literal heavens were ablaze with 
their splendor, all marching to the order of the Great 
Commander. 

The lamps were lighted through the train, and soon 
the curtains began to fall on either side of the car, 
behind which the weary passengers disappeared. Our 


CAMPING IN COLORADO. 


201 


turn came, and we gratefully accepted the rest it 
brought. 

We were awakened at four o’clock a.m., having 
just time to prepare to leave the train as it paused 
before the depot from which we started on leaving 
home. 

Fatigued with the over-excitement and excess of 
pleasure our journey had brought us, we all found 
welcome for the relief afforded us in reaching the end 
of our journey. 





































... 



































































































































THE SATCHEL SERIES. 

BRIGHT, ELEGANT, CHARMING! 

STORY, ROMANCE, TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, HUMOR, HEALTH, PLEASURE. 

From the Boston Home Journal. 

The Satchel Series ’ comprises the brightest and best brief works of 
fiction by American authors who are, for the most part, well known to 
the reading public. They are not trashy reprints nor “ dime novels,” 
but are clean and polished in matter, printed in large type, neatly 
bound in paper covers, convenient alike for railway, seashore or home 
reading. 

Short, sententious and marrowy, pleasing in style and 
handy in form—with bold type and open, cheerful pages— 
they are designed to fill fragments of leisure, in all seasons 
and places, with the genuine comforts of reading. 

VOLUMES READY. 

Nobody’s Business. By author “ Dead Men’s Shoes.” “ Ileavy Yokes,” etc. 30c. 
Story of the Strike. Scenes in City Life. IU’ted. By Elizabeth Murray. 30c.' 

Lily’s Lover. By author of “ Climbing the Mountains,” etc. 35c. 

Traveller’s Grab-Bag-. Stories, Thought, Fancies. By an Old Traveller.. 35c. 

Prisons Without Walls. Novelette. By Kelsic Etheridge,. 35c. 

Rosamond Howard. Fact and fancy. By Kate R. Lovelace.25c. 

Bonny Eagle. A Summer jauut to the forests of Maine. 25c. 

How to be Beautiful. A Toilet Manual for Ladies. By Louise Capsadell 25c. 

Earnest Appeal to Moody. A Satire. . 10c. 

Voice of a Shell. Stories of the Sea, and Sea Songs. By O. C. Auringer. 40c. 

Our Winter Eden. Pen Pictures of the Tropics. By Mrs. Cazncau.30c. 

Our Peggotties. By Kesiah Shelton. 25c. 

Only a Tramp. A fascinating, picturesque novel. By Owanda. Just out.. 50c. 

Who Did It? A vivid, thrilling story. By Mark Frazier. Just out .30c. 

Poor Theophilus, and the City of Pin. By a Contributor to Puck. 25c. 

Bera, or the C. & M. C. R. R. By Stuart De Leon. A Novel.40c. 

How it Ended. By Miss Marie Flaacke A sweet and pretty love story... 25c. 
Glenmere. A story of Love va-sus Wealth. Shortly. 


IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

Nearly Ready. 

A Complete Scientific Grammar of the English Language—in¬ 
cluding Phonetics. By W. Colegrovc, Pres W. Ya. College. For 

Schools and Students. 

The Queer Little Wooden Captain. By S} r dney Day re. Being volume 
I. of the “ Enchanted Library ” for Young Folks. 














NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS 

JUST ISSUED by 

THE AUTHORS’ PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

27 Bond Street, New York. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

Analytical Processes ; or, the Primary 
Principle of Pliilosophj 7 . By Rev Wm. 

L Gill, A. M.’.$2.00 

Beauty of the King. A brief Life of Christ. 
By Rev. A. H. Holloway, A.M., $1.0C; 

full gilt,.$1.25 

Christian Conception and Experience. Bv 

Rev. Wm. I. Gill, A.M.$1.00 

Ecclesiology: Fundamental Idea and Con¬ 
stitution of the New-Testament Clmrch. 

By E. J. Fish, D.D.$2.00 

Eyolution and Progress. An Exposition 
and Defence. By Rev. Wm. I. Gill, A .M. 

..$1.50 

Life Among the Clergy. By Rev. Robert 

Fisher.$1.25 

Life for a Look. By Rev. A. H. Hollo¬ 
way .15 cents. 

Resurrection of the Body. Does the Bible 
Teach it $ By E. Nisbet, D.D. Intro¬ 
duction by G. W. Samson, D.D.$1.00 

Cniyerge of Language. Uniform Rotation 
and Classification of Vowels, adapted 
to all Languages. By the late George 
Watson, Escp, of Boston. Edited by his 
daughtev, E. II. Watson.$1 50 

Is our Republic a Failure ? A Dis¬ 
cussion of Rights and Wrongs of North 
and South. By E. H. Watson . $1.50 

Camping- in Colorado. With Sugges¬ 
tions to Gold-Seekers, Tourists and In¬ 
valids. By S. A Gordon.$1.00 

Manuscript Paper. Per ream, $1 .00 or 
$1.25. By mail, 50c. per ream extra. 
Manuscript Manual. How to Prepare 

Manuscripts for the Press.10 cents. 

Mercantile Prices and Profits. By M. R. 
Tilon. (In press .) 

Race for Wealth. Considered in a Series 
of Letters written to each other by a 
Brother and Sister. Edited by James 

Corley .’50 cents. 

What is Demonetization of Gold and Sil¬ 
ver? By M. R. Pilon .75 cents. 


FICTION AND /ESTHETICS. 

Buccaneers, The. Historical Novel. By 
Randolph Jones. Paper, $1; cloth $1.75 
Deacon Cranky, the Old Sinner. By Geo. 

Guirey.$1 50 

Cothurnu 3 and Lyre- By E. J. Hoi- 

ding.$1.00 

Her Waiting Heart- By Louise Cap- 

sad ell .$1.00 

In Dead Earnest. By Julia Brickin- 

ridge .. .$1.25 

Irene. By Mrs. B. F. Baer .$1.00 

Linda ; or, Uber das Meer. By Mrs. II. 

L. Crawford. For Young Folks $1.25 
Mystic Key. A Poetic Fortune Teller 75c 
Our Wedding Gift3. By Amanda. M. 

Douglas. Paper, 50 cents ; cloth..$1.00 
Shadowed Perils- By M. A. Avery $1.00 
Sumners’ Poems- By S. B. and C. A Sum¬ 
ner Illustrated. 12mo. $2 50; 8vo. $4.00 
Wild Flowers. By C. W. Hubner. $1.00 
THE SATCHEL SERIES. 
Howto be Beautiful- Cl. 75c. ; paper 25c. 


Appeal to Moody.10c. 

The Traveler’s Grab-Bag.25c. 

Prisons Without Walls.25c. 

Bonny Eagle.25c. 

A Story of the Strike. 30c. 

Lily’s Lover.35c. 

Rosamond Howard.25c. 

Voice of a Shell.40c. 

Nobody’s Business.30c. 

Our Winter Eden .30c. 

Our Peggottie3.25c. 

Only a Tramp.50c. 

Who Did Itl . ... 30c, 

Poor Theophilus .25c. 

How it Ended.25c. 

Bera; or, C. & M. C. Railroad.40c. 

Glenmere.. 


V Books mailed, postpaid, to any part of the United States and Canada, upon 
receipt of price by the publishers. 

New Pl;m of Publishing and Descriptive Catalogue mailed free. 






































































































































































. 




















































%. 






















•« 
































































































* 
































» 





































♦ 


. 



















































































































































































































































































































































































































